320°

Xbox Has No Idea What They're Doing, and I'm Not Sure They Ever Did

Nirav from GL writes: "If the makers of a GOTY competitor that outdid sales and Game Pass expectations and owned by the richest company in the world cannot stay open - what hope is there for everyone else?"

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Christopher31d ago

***If the makers of a GOTY competitor that outdid sales and Game Pass expectations and owned by the richest company in the world cannot stay open - what hope is there for everyone else?***

None if you stay in an arena of corporate driven metrics. And this is what happens when you allow publishers to buy up massive amounts of studios and IPs. There's only so much internal competition and the focus in the end will remain on those who look best on a spreadsheet.

Players can be so driven by what is best for them and only see what is put right in front of them. But that's not what is best for them. They are being lied to constantly, as seen by Microsoft's ridiculous praise for Hi-Fi Rush and Phil's lies about Redfall prior to release and how big of a supporter of both studios he has been. But, instead of thinking "wait, this corporation wants me to think this way, should I be listening to them and believing them?" players eat it up and go "OMG, did you hear what they said! They're just like us and they know what's best for the industry."

And because of this single-mindedness of the majority of gamers, we are where we are now. Massive layoffs. Massive studio closures. Games that we were told were representative of the core values of said corporations shelved and studios behind them shuttered. The truth is coming to bear because the truth all along was only what the numbers in an excel spreadsheet told the corporate suits.

If you truly want what is best for the industry, what is best for developers, then you need to support Indie games, support developers that maintain control over their IPs and direction, support boutique publishers who only exist to help Indies make it out the door and don't own the IP. Stop supporting major corporations with your money or you devotion. Stop playing their games, and I don't mean video games, but their marketing, their double speak, their guy without a tie who says things you want to hear PR, their future of video gaming concepts as if we were hurting for new ways to play games other than installing/downloading and playing them, and especially any slogan from them that gives the impression that they are for you, the consumer. They are not. You're merely a value on a spreadsheet.

Neonridr31d ago

don't drink the koolaid kids.

Christopher31d ago

Sure, I'm the one drinking the koolaid. Keep believing in the corporations. They definitely have your best interests in mind. All hail the Big Green, For You Blue, and Nostalgia Red! All praise big corporations buying up other publishers. All praise the inevitable spreadsheet adjustments. For greed, not the players.

Crows9031d ago

I'd like to but I think you drank it all...

notachance31d ago

so they don’t become like you right?

Neonridr31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

@Christopher - look, I didn't mean to sound rude with my comment there, you do make some good points. However, it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. If this is honestly how you feel, then you don't have to game anymore, you can go find another hobby and put your time and effort into that.

Do I wish that these gaming companies were always a customer first driven business? Sure, that would be great and dandy, but that's not real life, nor it is realistic to expect that fully.

Saying to stop supporting these corporations, or my guess is specifically only Microsoft considering this is the mantra at N4G, isn't the answer. Indie games are great and I have adored plenty of them, but imagine a world with no Halo's, Zelda's or Last of Us titles. No thanks.

Christopher31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

***However, it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. If this is honestly how you feel, then you don't have to game anymore, you can go find another hobby and put your time and effort into that. ***

Do you know how many great a indie games there are out there? Why would I need to stop gaming at all? There are even AAA quality indie studios who develop and publish their own games still. Why would I need to leave gaming when I can instead support the good elements of the industry?

***Saying to stop supporting these corporations, or my guess is specifically only Microsoft considering this is the mantra at N4G, isn't the answer. Indie games are great and I have adored plenty of them, but imagine a world with no Halo's, Zelda's or Last of Us titles. No thanks. ***

First, pretty sure my reply to you makes this about all of them, not just Sony.

Second, I can easily imagine not playing those games considering the mass majority of us spend over 99% of our time playing other games from third party studios as it is.

Third, the answer is indeed to speak with your wallet. As long as you keep supporting these companies with your wallet, they will continue to treat studios the same. It's obvious that MAU don't matter, as seen by the closure of Tango Gameworks, the canning of promised updates to Halo Infinite, and the canning of TLoU MP.

Fourth, speaking with your wallet can also mean just waiting for deep sales and never buying MTX. This is how I support Ubisoft. I pay practically nothing for their games that I'm not even a blip on their radar. Even if it's a great game, I wait for a deep deep sale because I want them to get as little as possible from me until I feel they've changed their ways.

VariantAEC26d ago

@-Foxtrot
Christopher is wrong. Indies only have control of their IP if they can keep on making money. That's why they make cheap small most of the time really bad games. You may buy them and have a good time but in the end you realize you have to justify the money you spent playing many of them while the developers if they're any good lament never working on anything bigger. It's not easy to make games and there are hundreds of indies making their first games only to disappear before a sequel can even be announced. Indies need big budgets too if they want to make something even close to Stellar Blade and stay afloat. It's why you rarely see such games on phones or even PC without a major lable like EA or Ubisoft being flashed on the screen first. It is what it is.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 26d ago
anast31d ago

"then you need to support Indie games"

Get punk rock with it.

rlow131d ago

I don’t always agree with you. But you are correct and well said. It amazes me on what used to be a pretty straightforward industry has turned into such a greedy mess. Layoffs galore across the industry and corporates pushing/firing whatever is going to move the bean counters. With no regard for the people making the games. I’m tired of hearing these rich companies saying it’s just business, or an adjustment needed to be made, but it’s not personal. Then on top of it they have to inject corporate inclusivity into every game. On top of releasing broken games and expect people to pay top dollar.

But again well said and we as the consumer need to not only speak up but vote with our wallets.

Aussiesummer31d ago

Anything that makes millions is going to become a miasma of greed and corruption.

Huey_My_D_Long30d ago

Honestly feel like Christopher's comment is on point.

Probably one of the truest statements I've seen on this site rdegarding the gaming industry change.
We have got to support smaller titles and fight against the homogenization thats been happening. Admittedly even from Sony even more so from Ubisoft.

There should be steam group or a site dedicated to listing devs on a scale with how much they control of their IP and if not, I might look into it myself.
I'm liking your agenda man.

VariantAEC26d ago

That won't save the industry. Sorry to tell you but the reason there are so few indie devs making console games today is because live service has the best chance of success. The bigger games need these massive publishers. You can keep on playing the little games devs make while dreaming of making something bigger and what happens in the end is both parties lose. We see that more and more. Why is that? Because economic mandates. Higher minimum wages, unionization, and ever growing legal complexities launching games to the widest possible market... the whole world.

The same way you will disagree with me now is the same way people disagreed with me about Xbox's true intentions in the industry. You will wake up someday. Hopefully before your hobby is long dead.

Christopher25d ago

***Sorry to tell you but the reason there are so few indie devs making console games today is because live service has the best chance of success. ***

This is billionaire thinking. We can only pay attention to the biggest dollar makers. Even though there is an extremely thriving industry of non-live service games. They also win the most awards, sell the most copies, and innovate the most.

***The bigger games need these massive publishers.***

Larian, CDPR, Hello Games, Supergiant, Firefly. Need is too hard of a word to use and these companies show huge support from the community for their games. We just need to promote this more.

***You can keep on playing the little games devs make while dreaming of making something bigger and what happens in the end is both parties lose.***

You can keep being a part of the problem rather than promoting bigger and better from Indies by not supporting the games that don't deserve our support. Go you!

VariantAEC25d ago

@Christopher
"This is billionaire thinking. We can only pay attention to the biggest dollar makers. Even though there is an extremely thriving industry of non-live service games."
That is not what I said. Firstly, smaller game devs are not thriving. Most make a couple games before losing their studio and with no money they can keep their IP, but make nothing with it. Is that really great for anyone? If these low buget games made the most money... indies wouldn't go under. You can't logic.

CDPR owns GoG, they're a publisher, they're the big guy. You think Larian is a little guy? Hello Games is and their game came out of the gate stumbling and bumbling but with PS' money they were able to get their very first game out. SuperGiant got support from their game from where? Amir Rao declined to provide details about who funded their game and how much money it made but said the game sold enough to support the devs for several years. I didn't play Hades but I do remember the hype around it started well before the game released and before most people played it. I don't know if the hype was warranted or not. I like more action style games which Hades is not. Unfortunately, the games I gravitate to are bigger budget with voice acting great music and interactive set-pieces. I play arcade style games like Ace Combat and Armored Core as well as sims like Gran Turismo and flight simulators (on PC). Most of the games I like are huge and they cost a lot to make and make less than the games you like to play. People like me suffer because of these massive economic shifts made to placate those general workers at McDonald's with little talent or no talent. As their MW increases so to do the expected MW values of legal workers advertisers artists VO actors software designers and everyone else involved in game design. This is why making games is so top-heavy now. You need to start thinking about how you vote or one day your favorite games will need PS and Nintendo's help just to get made.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 25d ago
RNTody31d ago

This should not be surprising to any of you. We have been saying for MONTHS that Game Pass is not sustainable and that these acquisitions will come at a massive cost to the industry. People refused to grasp the difference between buying and investing in a developer like Insomniac or Housemarque, and buying the entire publisher. People refused to accept that spending billions to acquire the biggest publishers in gaming means you have to RECOUP those costs, and you aren't going to do it without consolidation, focusing on core IP that sells, creating revenue streams via ownership and releasing on other platforms, and closing down studios that are superfluous to the budget requirements. You will not recoup those costs by investing in risky new IP or creative new games and studios.

No, people cheered Microsoft on like they were delivering GOTY titles to their door and pouring money into the industry to grow Indies and triple A projects.

You are getting what you deserve. You take the consequences of the practices you supported.

Layoffs happen. Some games don't succeed. Everyone has seen it happen. Happens even to the winners.

This, however, is goddamn shambolic and if you can't see it now then there's no helping you and you should keep enjoying the "value" of Game Pass while contributing nothing to this industry.

I've never seen the developer of one of the best games of the year get axed before.

Ninja Theory is next after Hellblade 2, I can see them going independent again. There's more to come from MS.

TiredGamer31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

This is exactly it. There is more of this coming. MS runs from one bad idea to the next, and GamePass is an unsustainable train wreck that we get to watch in real time.

GamePass is stalled for subscriber growth, and all that they can hope for is to either A) Reduce the quantity of games (i.e. shutter game studios), B) Reduce the quality of games (to make more mediocre but lower budget offerings), or C) Raise prices on existing customers. Or some combination of those.

MS does not have a passion for the industry. The XBox project, from the beginning, was sparked from the fear that someone else would eat their PC market lunch by making a games machine that replaced the PC. THAT was the entire motivation for getting into the games industry.

Profchaos31d ago

I saw it from the outset of day 1 on Xbox it's unsustainable no one was buying their games and a noticeable decline in quality and a push to live service elements to keep subscriptions active was obvious.

I saw it every time I'd go to a physical game shop for a Multi plat pre order no one was there for the Xbox version.

I'd go to CeX or other used game stores and be able to pick up the full range of Xbox studios first party games for 20 bucks and change while on the PlayStation side 20 bucks might get me two PS4 launch games and wouldn't even get me a single Nintendo first party game.

-Foxtrot31d ago

"Ninja Theory is next after Hellblade 2"

Anyone think it's weird it comes out in 2 weeks and there's hardly anything on it

RNTody31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

Actually Foxtrot, I don't find it weird. When last has Microsoft thrown advertising weight behind one of their releases? Long gone are the days where their games had the sheer presence of Halo 3 or Gears of War 2. It's all been replaced with "play it day one on Games Pass."

Why spend millions on marketing a product when you aren't SELLING it? The Xbox faithful aren't going to buy it, they're just going to see it on the splash page of Game Pass.

MrBeatdown31d ago

But hey, at least we get Call of Duty free on game pass*

*eventually?

anast31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

They know what they are doing. If 'you' treat them like "good 'ol simple minded folk", then 'you' are relieving them from blame via ignorance. They knew that they were going all live service, streaming and mobile a long time ago, The Oracle tends to see the obvious. While companies patronize gamers like they are children, which most of them are, may be confused for stupidity, they are also not so stupid they don't understand the decisions that they are making toward the overall direction of their company.

*None of their games were even close to competing for GOTY. They paid for names to be mentioned.

Profchaos31d ago

Xbox survived it's first gen by pure luck halo became a hit and it was huge followed up by halo 2 which had one of the biggest marketing campaigns I can remember seeing in the early 00s we had guys in master chief outfits on the sidelines of state of origin as a promo it blew my mind.

Then the 360 fell under the excellent leadership of Peter Moore and outpaced the PS3 for the first three quarters of that generation the only time anyone has ever done that.

Since losing Peter Moore it's been a rapid decline and buying up the industry stank of a desperate move along with the idea of gamepass itself stank of desperation to me no one was buying the X1 they needed something to get people interested and here we are.

I would happily lose gamepass if Xbox could go back to the 360 era style of focused heavy hitters and solid games.

The championing of consolidation they did was disgusting and what's happened as a result is proof they never had gamers or the industry at heart they need their ROI and that's all they cared about big daddy ms has signed a number of blank checks getting them here and it's coming to collect on their debts

zaanan31d ago

Well, MS bought Bungie to get Halo (and shut down the Mac version), which is a big reason they were as successful as they were. And the PS3 actually outpaced the 360, which is why it eventually outsold it despite releasing more than a year later. So really, not much has changed if you think about it.

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30°

Interview on Indika with the Actress for Indika (Isabella Inchbald)

Interview with Isabella Inchbald, Actress for (Indika) in Indika which is an emotional, thought provoking journey through a nun's tale in questioning her religion.

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gamerheadquarters.com
480°

Mark Cerny: When making consoles, we're not trying to build low-cost PCs

PlayStation legend Mark Cerny discusses PS5, the challenges of making consoles, and his 42-year games industry career

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gamesindustry.biz
darthv722d ago

Well... they used to design their own chips. Emotion Engine, Cell, RSX... when they switched to using X86 based chips is now more akin to low-mid cost PCs than before. It may not look like a PC but it pretty much is one. I'd bet it could do productivity stuff just fine if they allowed it to.

Cockney1d 22h ago (Edited 1d 22h ago )

I think series consoles are closer to pc than playstation seeing as they used the full suite of rdna 2 functions, didn't Sony strip a lot of that away to streamline their machine to be games focused? Its probably lacking in the office and productivity department, don't ask me what their custom chip does or doesn't do I just remember reading a lot about at the time, "rdna 1.5" was the call and yet what we see is pretty much level pegging as far as games go

GamerRN1d 21h ago

Actually, stripping that away doesn't streamline, it hinders. Those features are actually helpful for gaming.

And they didn't strip them out, they just didn't work closely enough to be able to use them all since specs weren't finalized. Microsoft took an inside line on that one.

The reason why things are equal is because Xbox rarely has games designed on their box, they are usually designed on PS5 and ported over. So Xbox loses the power edge it has to making up the poor optimization.

It's ok, I think the lesson is you have to have a significant increase in power of 30 percent or more to be noticeable. And you have to sell enough to become the lead console for development otherwise you lose that power.

Einhander19721d 20h ago

@GamerRN

PS5 outperforms series x because it uses custom chips to process things that on xbox need to be done by the GPU/CPU.

Things like Tempest Audio, and it's custom compression chip for SSD as well as having a separate chip for upscaling using checkerboard and presumably FSR runs off it as well.

OlderGamer171d 8h ago

O please stop the myth that the seriesX mythe is the only console that is using the "the full suite or Rdna2" is already debunked al long time ago.

Number1TailzFan1d 21h ago

The consoles use video ram as system ram as well since it's all shared, so nah.

1d 10h ago
Christopher1d 20h ago

You should probably read the whole quote and not just go based on the title.

darthv721d 20h ago

I have read it... I dont think anyone can build a PC that equates to the performance of a PS5/Series X for anywhere close to their selling point. Not for a while at least.

And my comment about them switching from custom chips to more PC related just adds to that fact. whether people want to believe it or not... Sony has built a low cost (not spec, there is a difference) PC.

neutralgamer19921d 20h ago (Edited 1d 20h ago )

We need better games on these consoles. This generation has been such a huge letdown so far. Moving forward these current consoles will be supported even when newer Playstation and Xbox are in the market. AAA games have been so expensive to make and it seems fun is taken out of games and loot boxes take their place. Try playing a NBA 2k game it's like a casino with slot machines

just_looken1d 10h ago

The cost of making these games is a scam

Nba 2k19 to 2k14 its like madden the budget to make went stupid high but the fundamental of the game and the game modes never changed.

Anything now even basic intersection construction is tens of millions but pre coivid few hundred grand.

2018 here is $400 landscaping now here is the pink slip to my car.

I swear the cost of everything is the same but there taking of that huge profit top for there own pockets.

Einhander19721d 20h ago

The PS5 is incredibly customized.

The SSD, the Tempest Audio, the APU itself is a mix of cross generation AMD hardware in order to be more optimized for gaming and cost efficient.

The PS5 Pro also has features from cross generation AMD hardware with RT features from RDNA 4 plus it's own custom upscaler PSSR.

PlayStation 5 Pro features next-gen RDNA 4-based ray tracing engine, allows 2-3x faster RT
https://www.tweaktown.com/n...

PlayStation still uses custom designed hardware.

darthv721d 17h ago

honestly... I dont know why some are taking offense to it being called a low cost PC. It really is... and low cost is a good thing. the article did not say low performance PC... that is totally different.

Einhander19721d 17h ago

I'm saying they still are designing their own chips, they just use AMD templates.

The PS5 APU has features from RDNA 1 2 and 3, and the PS5 Pro adds features from RDNA 4, and the CPU is the same with it own customized features.

Then all of that is paired with other custom chips.

just_looken1d 10h ago

What you all said my rig in my bedroom can do it no issues

That plastic box has a 2020 cpu with the pro using a 2021 6700

The custom is do to them being dirt cheap with a 2 prong power supply so they made a cpu/gpu combo chip aka apu.

Get a amd laptop with there new mobile chips get the same performance.

VincentVanBro1d 17h ago

You’re right but downvoted for some reason.

just_looken1d 10h ago

Its this site even the head admin banned me for awhile being but hurt over my "anti" sony comments.

n4g is pro sony nothing sony will ever do can change that.

Pyrofire951d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

When you only look at the big flagship chips that seems true, but there's a lot going on in a modern console that takes advantage of being a dedicated kit. The various elements put into how the pipelines are connected shape the direction of games. End to end decryption and data streaming is something big that PC can only kind of do and with less certainty for example. Dedicated audio chip that rivals the main CPU in the PS4 is a big paradigm shift, devs used to fight for cores and audio was often last priority, whereas in traditional PC design the main CPU does both of those jobs of processing audio and decryption, while also performing all the other CPU based tasks.
It's not the custom silicon that used to be what made consoles but there's a lot more to consoles now. Data storage was not even a consideration and almost no RAM was on old consoles. Now there needs to be an enormous amount of SSD storage, and RAM to make these games tick with how much is demanded from them.

just_looken1d 10h ago

@darth

Your comment show how many sony blindboys are on here

You are 100% correct but to add on the gamecube-ps3 also had a gpu/cpu combo back in the day unlike modern consoles that are just glorified tablets using apu/igpu's.

I miss the ps3 era start of ps4 era that sony was awesome

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 1d 8h ago
MIDGETonSTILTS171d 22h ago

Yah, hence the majority of the PS5’s hardware investment going towards an SSD instead of a GPU.

There are countless custom pc gaming rigs out there, and I bet none of them took an SSD-centric approach to their design, like the ps5 did.

just_looken1d 10h ago

LMAO wow sony blind boy's are mad in love

That is called direct storage windows 10 has had that for over 5 year's every computer with a nvme based ssd has had that tech for years.

https://www.thewindowsclub....

The ps6 will then have this new amazing tech you all will go crazy over resize bar
https://www.howtogeek.com/8...

But that tech has been out for 2 years all 40series gpu's intel gpus and the new amd cards have that tech.

There is nothing a ps5 can do over a 4+ year old computer 2019 rig want resize bar? get a cheap amd/intel card for half the cost of a ps5.

MIDGETonSTILTS1722h ago

Clearly you did not watch Cerny’s first ps5 breakdown, so you don’t appreciate EVERYthing Cerny did to leverage their extremely fast SSD.

bigfish1d 22h ago (Edited 1d 22h ago )

I can see where he’s coming from re ps5 not just being a box with parts like a pc. They must also spend an awful lot on r & d just to design the thing so it has aesthetic appeal and typical Japanese with some sort of Philosopy behind the design. Would also think other factors around the custom airflow and the like would cost a lot given that it’s not a standard box shape

TheColbertinator1d 21h ago

That's all a console will ever be.

gold_drake1d 21h ago

true, but the alternative is, relatively, a expensive ordeal.
unless you dont game at all ha.

mkis0071d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

Just spent 2000k on a 4070ti super 7800x3d 1440p gaming pc. Honestly consoles will never be replaced at this wide a gap in price. I plan to get a ps5 pro too.

just_looken1d 10h ago

@mk

You waisted 2 grand you mean

At 1440p a amd4 chipset with a 5600x3d combined with a 6750xt even a 6800 can push 1440p just a much for half the cost or less used/new and or sales.

I have a 75hhz monitor in my bedroom 1440p playing games maxed out spent around 1200cad but aio 5800x3d 32gb of ram and a 6750xt 28 or 30 inch monitor.

Every time i hear pc so expensive i just laugh you can spend less than $500 buy a used ebay rig fix it up or a office pc toss in a cheap low profile card.

Pyrofire951d 15h ago

If you look into the hardware beyond just the CPU and GPU things start to look different, and there's plenty beyond just those two parts, those two parts even are modified to their own design in some degree.

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50°

Eternal Damnation Interview With Soham Jaiswal, CEO, SD Games

Recently Gareth at Skewed and Reviewed spoke with Soham Jaiswal, CEO, SD Games about the pending Eternal Damnation game. The game is a hybrid of RPG and RTS and cast players as a Spider.