The XBox Thread - Page 209

Microsoft’s Xbox Series S wasn’t exactly a well kept secret, but the company’s decision to create a second next-gen Xbox to go up against the PS5 wasn’t an easy one. Ultimately, Microsoft’s decision to build two next-gen consoles came down to the company’s desire to reach a broader audience than Sony was targeting.

The Xbox Series S lacks the raw horsepower found in the larger Xbox Series X or the PS5. That’s left many wondering why Microsoft created two very different next-gen Xbox consoles, while Sony has focused on a single powerful PS5. Some Microsoft employees were even questioning the decision, and the company’s Xbox chief has revealed to The Verge that “the best argument against doing [two next-gen consoles] was Sony.”

In an interview with The Verge, Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer says the idea of an entry level Xbox Series S “was questioned a number of times internally.” Despite the reservations and Spencer having “a ton of respect for what Sony does,” Microsoft persisted to create the $299 Series S as a more affordable entry point into next-gen gaming all with the knowledge that Sony was only pursuing high-end hardware.

“It was really this inclusion: how do we include more people in the launch euphoria and hype and everything that happens, and make it as accessible to [as many] more people as possible,” explains Spencer. “We want to think about how we bring more people into the gaming funnel, have more people experience this art form that we love,” says Spencer. “The pushback against [doing one console] was always, but we want to grow, we want to find new customers.”

The Xbox Series S complicates the next generation of gaming somewhat. Sony’s approach was to create two PS5 models with the same hardware specs, and one without a disc drive. “The way I would frame it, the best argument against doing [two-next gen consoles] was Sony,” reveals Spencer. “We didn’t think that they were going to do it.”

Both the Xbox Series X and Series S are difficult to find and purchase right now, and that’s a situation that’s likely to last for months yet. “We started manufacturing late summer,” reveals Spencer. “We were a little bit later than the competition, because we were waiting for some specific AMD technology in our chip. We were a little bit behind where they were, where Sony was, in terms of building units.”

That decision to hold for a full implementation of AMD’s RDNA 2 technologies will likely mean Sony has more units to ship out this holiday season. Microsoft hasn’t revealed what the benefits of having full RDNA 2 support will bring to Xbox Series X over the PS5, or why the company was willing to hold and impact its shipping plans. It’s a decision that could play out in what’s supported in games in the months and years ahead.

For now, you’ll likely see more Xbox Series X devices available over the next year than Series S. While the Xbox Series S is positioned as the entry point, Spencer has revealed Microsoft is still currently manufacturing more Xbox Series X consoles than Series S to keep up with demand. “We figured that our first holiday, and probably our second holiday, you would see more of the higher end SKU, the Series X sold,” says Spencer. “We built more Series Xs than we did Series Ss. I think when we go into spring and summer, we’ll probably moderate that a bit. Over the long run, in most cases, price wins out.”

On January 23 2021 01:49 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Fuck. All the way off.

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1352637664558800896

Bethesda’s highly-anticipated Starfield is supposedly targeting a 2021 release.

At least, that’s what industry insider ‘NateDrake’ said on the ResetEra forums over the weekend in a thread dedicated to some recent quotes from Jeff Grubb about an upcoming Microsoft/Bethesda event.

According to the insider, as of a few months ago, the intended goal of Microsoft and Bethesda was to release the game later this year, although it’s uncertain how the pandemic might have affected this goal.

"There has been a strong hope & desire to have Starfield launch this yr”, the insider writes. “How major the impacts due to COVID have been on the title is anyone's guess, but 2021 was the intended goal for release as of a few months ago".

In a follow-up post, ‘NateDrake’ pointed out that he’s not entirely certain of this release frame. This is also due to Starfield being a Bethesda game, which do appear to get delayed quite often.

Officially announced at E3 2018 during Bethesda’s press conference, Starfield is coming to yet-to-be-confirmed formats. Recent rumors suggest that the game will be exclusive to Xbox following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, although this hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The European Commission has approved Microsoft’s $7.5 billion deal to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Doom and Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks. Microsoft’s deal has been approved by the EU without conditions, as it “does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market.” The acquisition required EU approval before Microsoft could finalize the Bethesda deal and bring future games to its Xbox Game Pass subscription.

“The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the combined entity’s limited market position upstream and the presence of strong downstream competitors in the distribution of video games,” says a European Commission statement. “The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.”

Once the deal is fully closed, Microsoft’s list of first-party studios will jump to 23, following the addition of Bethesda sub-studios like Dishonored developer Arkane, Wolfenstein studio MachineGames, Doom maker id Software, and The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks. Microsoft appears to be planning to keep Bethesda running separately, with its existing leadership. That approach seems to have worked for Mojang, LinkedIn, and GitHub, which have all continued to run separately after Microsoft acquired them.

Microsoft originally announced its plans to acquire Bethesda in September, promising to honor PS5 exclusivity commitments for Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo. Games like The Elder Scrolls: Online will also “continue to be supported exactly as it was.”

How Microsoft handles future Bethesda titles will come down to a “case-by-case” basis, according to comments from Microsoft’s gaming chief Phil Spencer in September. It’s still not clear how Microsoft plans to handle the upcoming space epic Starfield.

Microsoft might not even have to launch future Bethesda games exclusively on Xbox. Just having them on day one on Xbox Game Pass might be a big enough draw in itself for players to subscribe. Xbox gaming chief Phil Spencer has also questioned the viability of exclusivity deals for games recently, and Microsoft’s plans for Xbox are very much centered on Xbox Game Pass and xCloud game streaming reaching millions more people.

In fact, Microsoft is reportedly planning to outline its plans for Xbox later this month. A “future of gaming” event is rumored to take place on March 23rd, and it could be an ideal opportunity for Microsoft to discuss the future of Bethesda, xCloud on iOS, and its plans for Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer is celebrating an anniversary with Xbox. It was seven years ago, on March 31, 2014, that Spencer was promoted to Head of Xbox. It was a big, dramatic change for Microsoft and Xbox, as the company faltered under the leadership of Don Mattrick and some of the policy moves that the company pushed in regards to DRM and used games.

In short, Xbox was in a tough position back then. The Xbox One launched at $500, a full $100 above the PS4, thanks in part to Kinect being bundled with every system. Microsoft did sell 1 million units of the Xbox One in its first 24 hours, but the surge at launch could not be sustained in the long-term, and the PS4 would handily outsell the Xbox One over time.

Spencer would go on to acknowledge and own up to Microsoft's numerous shortcomings in the Xbox One era, and in particular the controversial policy decisions from the previous leadership team. Under Spencer's leadership, and due to a number of other factors, Xbox is in a great position right now. The Xbox Series X|S had a record-setting launch, while initiatives that Spencer spearheaded like Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Streaming have taken off to great success.

"Crazy to think it's been 7 years. Couldn't be more proud of the team; what they've learned and accomplished over the years. Lot's more to do, thanks for all the support and feedback from the community, I really do appreciate all the positive energy," he said on Twitter.

Looking back at the announcement from March 31, 2014 is a fun stroll down memory lane. At the time, Spencer said he was "honored to lead the team at this incredible time for Microsoft and the games industry." His blog post was titled "A New Day at Xbox."

Back in 2014, Spencer laid out a vision for where he saw Xbox heading in the future, and I think many would agree he achieved that and then some.

"Our mission is to build a world-class team, work hard to meet the high expectations of a passionate fan base, create the best games and entertainment, and drive technical innovation. As we continue forward, this renewed focus and mission will be a foundational part of how I lead the Xbox program," he said at the time.

Spencer has made dramatic moves as Head of Xbox, including spending $10 billion on acquiring Mojang/Minecraft and also ZeniMax and its subsidiary studios and franchises. Those investments could pay, or in the case of Minecraft are already paying, significant dividends for Microsoft. With ZeniMax now under the Microsoft fold, Microsoft takes ownership of franchises like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Doom, and more, and brings on eight new first-party studios to help bolster its exclusive lineup going forward. Microsoft was criticized in the past for not doing enough in terms of first-party game development and exclusives, and that argument is likely to fall apart now with all the moves Microsoft has made. Microsoft of course also acquired teams like Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Obsidian, inXile, and more, as well as starting a new studio called The Initiative that is working on a new Perfect Dark game.

Spencer also led the team in pushing a new approach to releasing Xbox games on more platforms to help broaden the playerbase. The company previously kept Xbox games on console and PC games on PC. But now, Xbox games are released everywhere, and even beyond console and PC thanks to cloud streaming for mobile devices and tablets. The executive also led the charge in pushing for cross-play, when, in 2016, he boldly announced a plan and a willingness to work with Sony and Nintendo on cross-play.

Spencer is known for his candor and free speaking, and he has on numerous occasions taken a hard line against the idea of console wars in the gaming industry. He says it serves no purpose and has a negative effect on gaming, and has consistently called for change.

Game Pass deserves a callout as well, as Spencer helped spearhead the launch of this Netflix-style subscription service that could be Microsoft's secret weapon. Xbox Game Pass could have dramatic, long-lasting implications for Xbox and beyond, and it's off to a great start with 18 million subscribers and a lot of positive buzz about how great a value it is.

Spencer is known for being humble, so he wouldn't take credit for all of Microsoft's success stories for Xbox in recent years, and he does have a big team around him that gets the job done. But he has personally led the way in his public-facing position and he sets the tone.

It hasn't been completely smooth sailing, however, as Spencer was part of the team that decided to cancel Scalebound, shut down Lionhead, and close down Microsoft's ambitious Xbox Entertainment Studios division (which, to be fair, he inherited from previous management).

The future is unwritten and uncertain, but Spencer has demonstrated again and again that he is a capable, forward-thinking leader who is committed to Xbox and growing the brand.

Xbox says it will continue to invest in and acquire new studios as it aims to release a new first-party game every three months.

During a special E3 pre-brief featuring the Xbox and Microsoft executive team, the company laid out its vision for the future of the video games industry and for Xbox. Regular readers of GamesIndustry.biz will be familiar with the strategy, but it ultimately revolves around Game Pass and xCloud, which the company hopes will allow it move beyond the '200 to 300 million' audience on consoles to reach billions of consumers.

"[In order to keep growing] we need to expand our audience beyond console to new demographics and geographies we haven't reached before and provide meaningful value for that audience to choose to spend their money with us," says Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart.

"And that's exactly what we've been doing over the last eight years or so. First, we needed to refocus the business. We had moved away from our core focus on delivering the best gaming experience, so we needed to get that back on track and repair our relationship with our most important customers. We needed to ensure we had the right experience focused on the gamers, with the right price, and we did that.

"Then we spent the next three or four years developing our strategy. 'What does Xbox want to be when it grows up?' And 'How do we leverage more of Microsoft's core assets and strengths?.' "We started the shift and made investments required to deliver that strategy across content, experiences and hardware.

"And now the last couple of years have been about execution, seeing through on our bets. Whether it was launching new consoles or cloud gaming or Game Pass, we wanted to make sure we had the right pieces in place with a content engine to back all of it up."

One of the key elements of the strategy involves going 'beyond the console,' which is something the company has been doing by putting its games on PC and xCloud. To make the most of that, it wants games to have cross-play and cross-progression so that gamers can switch devices and play with friends irrespective of the device they're using.

This is in part what our interview with Sarah Bond was all about last month, where she detailed the company's strategy of making technology and cloud services more affordable and available to independent developers. The idea is to democratise games development so that things like cross-play aren't just something the big AAA game developers can afford.

This should also help games become more accessible and welcoming, as it should empower creators from different backgrounds. This is another key element of the strategy.

During the briefing, corporate vice president of Xbox operations Dave McCarthy detailed all the things the company is working on to make sure gaming on Xbox is safer and more inclusive. This includes things like the Xbox adaptive controller, new accessibility features like speech-to-text and text-to-speech, accessibility guidelines for developers, partnerships with underrepresented communities and groups, text and image filtering, enhanced parental controls and more.

"Being intentionally inclusive is business critical if we are to meet the needs of billions of players across the world," says McCarthy.

Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty said later in the briefing: "You'll see us put more commitment and resources into bringing diverse voices into our games and into our teams. As our audience expands around the world to include people from all walks of life, we need to foster and support people seeing themselves in their entertainment."

Accessibility and inclusivity, platform expansion, cloud technology, democratising development and subscriptions are the main strategic elements underpinning Xbox's ambitions. But all of this is meaningless without the software. Microsoft's games output in recent years has fallen behind the competition, in terms of scale, quantity and -- in some cases -- quality. This is where the firm's acquisition strategy comes into play.

Microsoft has spent huge sums expanding its studio network, most notably with last year's acquisition of Bethesda. The goal is to have a more consistent flow of good games going into Game Pass. But not just games built for US console gamers, but for people around the world, playing on all sorts of platforms.

"We want to get to a point of releasing a new game every quarter," Booty said. "Games take up to four or five years to make, and the reality is that not every project we start will make it to launch. But if you add all that up, that's how we've gotten to our state today, with two dozen studios making games across a variety of genres. And we know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content so our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows."

Xbox boss Phil Spencer continued: "The bottom line is that we simply put out more top quality games in front of more people than other companies.

"Across the Xbox ecosystem, we're now reaching hundreds of millions of people every month, and our total addressable market is going to grow, while others are relatively static. As the Xbox ecosystem grows in both content and total size, it becomes more valuable to both players and our partners. So right now, we are the only platform shipping games on console, PC and cloud simultaneously. Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware upfront, but then charging them a second time to play on PC.

"And of course, all of our games are in our subscription service day one, full cross-platform included."

Part of the briefing was also about showing the commitment of the wider Microsoft organisation to the Xbox business. There was even a chat with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"We believe we can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining that future of interactive entertainment, quite frankly, at scale," Nadella said.

"There are really three, I think, areas or key areas where we believe we have incredible competitive advantage. First is our leadership in cloud computing; second, the resources we have to build out the subscription value with Xbox Game Pass; and third is our overall focus on empowering creators. I'm really excited about the opportunity in gaming."

CFO Stuart said Microsoft has two criteria for the businesses it operates it. It needs to be a large, growing marketing of global scale, and a market where it can drive "meaningful market share". Gaming fits both of those things.

"One of the things we're seeing is that gaming and entertainment industries are changing in ways that are really similar to changes in Microsoft's Enterprise businesses," Spencer said.

"In both consumer and enterprise, we are moving from packaged products and towards ongoing engagement and service-based relationships. In gaming, that's exactly what we're driving with Xbox Cloud Gaming and with Game Pass. And in both of these areas, Microsoft's assets in cloud and our global footprint are critical.

"But what makes us different from a service like Netflix is that we give players both options, a subscription package and also a full retail store. And we're seeing the positive results in our financials."

Spencer said that Xbox believes it will increase its market share on console because it has both the lowest-priced next-gen machine in Xbox Series S, and the most powerful console in Xbox Series X. He also states that Game Pass "is turning into a deciding factor in people choosing which console to buy".

He also revealed that Xbox has more than doubled its first-party game sales on PC. He states that the strategy is already working, but there's obviously a long way to go.

"We are here to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet," said Spencer said. "To achieve that, our aspiration is to empower everyone to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want.

"That's a big change to how this industry has traditionally worked. In the past, a lot of game companies have been about locking players into certain hardware and erecting barriers between players. We are taking a different approach, because we believe that games, that interactive entertainment, aren't really about hardware and software, it isn't about pixels, it's about people.

"Games bring people together. Games build bridges and forge bonds, generating mutual empathy among people all over the world. Joy and community. That's why we're here. And we want everyone on earth to be able to join in, no matter what device they have access to, or where you are, and without spending a lot of money on every bit of individual entertainment.

"Achieving our mission is not going to be easy, and we've got a long way to go, but we believe only Microsoft can bring to bear the global scale, the vast wellsprings of technical innovation, the financial resources, and the deep decades-long legacy in video games required to truly bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone."