I would agree with this on PC. But on Console you have to invest in the Xbox. Even the S is more friction than many willing to invest in (myself included). Now if they made ALL GP games work on PC it would indeed be an easy add/drop content stream.
Thread: Xbox wants to provide a steady flow of great games moving forward, "We don't have a big game this quarter"
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oh i didn't know that was used in the xbox but its not exclusive to it they've had that since the 90s in windows 95
Nikana
I'm A Power Ranger 'Til The End
It being exclusive doesnt really matter. The implementation of putting it into a console changed the landscape and was/is the reason why consoles today are far easier to develop for. Which also opened the doors for consoles to support indies far better and far faster.
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oh i get it now thanks seems to be a pretty good achievement
Microsoft also created the achievements system. Love it or hate it, you have to admit it became a big part of gaming.
And I don't know if it's Bungie or MS who gets credit for the matchmaking system they created in Halo 2, but it was quite a big shift for its time. Instead of random lists of servers, you had an algorithm determining where to place you with others in a similar skill level and all you had to do was click Play. And now try to remember the last MP game you played where you picked a server from a server list.
The system-level party creation, voice chat, messaging, etc was also a big innovation. Those things existed separately already, sure, but making them a standard in a console had never been done and they were doing it early as fuck. Microsoft came out of the gate swinging hard with the Xbox and then managed it like shit after it started gaining mass traction.
And I don't know if it's Bungie or MS who gets credit for the matchmaking system they created in Halo 2, but it was quite a big shift for its time. Instead of random lists of servers, you had an algorithm determining where to place you with others in a similar skill level and all you had to do was click Play. And now try to remember the last MP game you played where you picked a server from a server list.
The system-level party creation, voice chat, messaging, etc was also a big innovation. Those things existed separately already, sure, but making them a standard in a console had never been done and they were doing it early as fuck. Microsoft came out of the gate swinging hard with the Xbox and then managed it like shit after it started gaining mass traction.
- Platforms
Based on everyone I know who got one... it's brand loyalty more than any particular game.
That is a strong factor for many. Almost everyone I know (who doesnt buy them all) stuck with the ecosystem they invested in last gen. Which makes sense as last gen is when many people went all digital. Its the same thing that keeps me on steam and not any other PC store.
Nikana
I'm A Power Ranger 'Til The End
If that was the case their other games would have sold far more. The difference between their biggest IPs and stuff they tried to push like Quantum Break and Sunset overdrive is vast.
Brand loyalty extends to games too. Plus the core Xbox audience has, in my experience, primarily been the more serious 'dudebro' gamer, into the more edgy but realistic games, with competitive, arcadey gameplay.
More silly, brightly coloured games and story first, gameplay second narrative adventure titles are not the sort of thing that generally does well on the platform.
Or didn't anyway. Games like Roblox and Fortnite have definitely created a shift in younger Xbox players over the course of the last decade, but still not to the point anything much other than competitive, 'gameplay over all other factors' titles will be particularly successful on the platform.
My brother and sister both opted for Xbox one instead of PS4 but they didn't buy a single exclusive and neither did any of their friends they played games with they bought stuff like pubg, dragon age Inquisition and whatever latest call of duty. For my brother it was because that's what his friends were getting for my sister it was because she prefers the controller and only plays so many games so doesn't really care about the exclusives on either platform. I would say at some point in the near future you were going to have people who buy it for Bethesda games but they have to start coming out with them first and they have to be better than fallout 76. I wish I could say game pass was a selling point for the people I know but for the most part the people I know in real life just forget they have it and it's a monthly charge that they eat.
teezzy
Let me have my wanks
- Platforms
Nikana
I'm A Power Ranger 'Til The End
I know people that bought PS4's and played nothing but Battlefield and the occasional Madden. That doesn't mean God of War wasn't a system seller. Theres 100 million plus PS4s in the wild and Horizon hit 20 million copies sold. Does that mean Horizon isn't a system seller? 80 percent of people who have a PS4 didn't play it.
If people are subbed to game pass but arent playing it, thats still a selling point for the system. Your limited exposure by the people you know does not equate to the general market. The numbers are hard to pin point as Microsoft has stopped doing a lot of reporting and instead put out PR spun numbers, but 25 million subscribers for GP is proof its a selling point.
If it was a brandy loyalty thing then why did games like Quantum Break and Sunset Overdrive under perform on the platform? Those were Xbox only, at the time, games that were pushed for multiple years and both underperformed significantly. For sure, you will always have a subset of people on any platform that will buy anything the platform puts out but this notion that some IP from Microsoft aren't pillar/system sellers is a bit silly imo.
The 25 million subscribers doesn't even differentiate between people who actually own the console and people who are on PC.
The 20 million sold for horizon is pretty big by the way, what was the last XBox exclusive to hit such a milestone?
The 20 million sold for horizon is pretty big by the way, what was the last XBox exclusive to hit such a milestone?