If that's true then they pissed away 7 billion. If they were buying Zenimax just so they can put their games on gamepass then I want Zenimax's negotiators because they took Microsoft to the cleaners.
Official Thread Starfield
- Thread starter Two Pennys Worth
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How so? Do you think exclusive games from them will drive up consoles sales to the point where it’s making them more money than multi plat sales? Not in the short to medium term it won’t. Consider that MS is now no longer just hosting a version of the game on their platform - now all the sales, publishing, advertising, marketing returns from these games goes back to them as well. Then 5 or 6 years down the line when Zenimax are brining the next big in gaming and maybe MS have a new console ready, they drop it as an exclusive.
We could say this about any game on any platform but yet here we are. Exclusives rule, right?
Just to let you know more people buy Bethesda games on xbox over the past platform.
Sony as a whole for as everything platform is a joke compare MS. Windows is 100 times bigger and you have console, mobile, and ect.
They don't need Sony and people need to get with times.
You don't spend 7 billion just to be multiplatform. Which they made that back and then some already.
And yet what I said still stands.
They spent 2.5 billiln buying Minecraft and kept it multiplatform. MS are business. A business who couldn't give a crap about console exclusivity. Their priority is gamepass and Xcloud. These games day 1 in GP bolsters the service. Xcloud just isn't there yet, but the aquisition keeps these games off competing (not that there are any) streaming services.
That makes no sense. So these games are suddenly going to stop making money now? I don't get your logic here.
That isn't what I'm talking about. The Xcloude blades are Xbox one S which means max res of 1080P 30FPS with alot of games at 900P. Once they switch to XSX blades they will be in a better place.
Ok..... What would be the point of owning an Xbox if you can play these games on other platforms. Platforms that do have excellent exclusives in their own right you can't play on Xbox? Serious question.
They don't need SONY. They will keep it exclusive to their platform beside a few titles.
Can't have gamepass or Xcloud on PS5, there is no point to make it for them. Plus PS players don't buy their games anyway so what is the point?
So basically what has been done since 2011. And yet you all found reason to buy one.
You're asking the wrong question in my opinion (what's the point). There is no doubt that good exclusives sell consoles. I bought a PS4 for Bloodborne & Zero Dawn and I'm going to buy a PS5 for Demon Souls. And there is no doubt that Microsoft recognise this and will at some point use Zenimax to drop a massive exclusive at some point in time.
My point is this is a long term play for the return on investment. In the immediate to short term (next 2 to 3 years say) it makes more sense for MS to get the maximum return that multi-plat sales will give them. There is no way that using exclusives to sell consoles in the short term is going to make up for the sales that multi-plat sales will give them. Especially when chip supplies for the PS5 and XSX are impacting on the amount of consoles they can produce (for example: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021...threaten-playstation-5-supplies-at-christmas/).
My prediction that that they won't drop the exclusive hammer in any significant way for another few years yet. They will time it for something big - which could very well be this game Starfield (assuming this game won't be showing up until 2022/2023).
Of course I could be way off here and you might even totally disagree. That's all fine. It's just a discussion :-)
Wouldn’t keeping all or most of their (Bethesda) new stuff exclusive be a good thing for the devs? They’d only have to work on three (2.5?) platforms and wouldn’t it speed up the process and Xbox ecosystem gamers get their games sooner
Yeah there is that. But Zenimax would have a large PS development team already so I think that's kind of moot in this situation. Of course if we start seeing them lay off their PS development teams I think we'll know the answer to if the games are going to be exclusive.
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I’m expecting reality to be more of a mix of the two, some exclusive and some multiplat. I do think it is more likely in the short term that Xbox exclusivity might look more like Xbox getting guaranteed time exclusives before showing up on other platforms.
For awhile I made a strong case why many of the games would stay multiplat or at least go to PlayStation later. I'm not buying what I was trying to sell earlier. They're all exclusive. There's two things I cannot overcome in terms of porting Bethesda games:
- Bethesda is a strategic purchase. Not meant to turn profits directly. It was purchased solely and specifically to drive Game Pass subs. This is not up for debate. It's on record. Satya is on record.
- Satya's compensation bonus for fiscal year 2021 includes Game Pass growth. Not gaming revenue. The head of Microsoft's compensation bonuses are directly tied to the major initiatives within Microsoft. These things are what will impact stock price. If Microsoft doesn't hit their Game Pass sub goals after they green-lit a 7.5 billion dollar purchase because they decided to put those games on the competitors platforms, heads will roll within the Xbox division.
Doesn't need to be exclusive to drive game pass subs, though. If what you say is true you wont be able to buy the games at all and it would literally be GP exclusive. Which isn't happening. Why take a risky long term approach that has no gurantee to speed up GP adoption when you can start recouping right away, and still drive GP growth.
You take a risky approach if that what is board of directors tasks you with. And it’s not even risky. Unlike Sony, Xbox doesn’t carry the entire company. They have more flexibility to innovate because of that.