- Joined
- Apr 19, 2019
I dunno it's pretty much mirroring what Microsoft has done on the PC front for decades.I don't see how they're really competing with Steam since they're releasing their first party games on Steam at the same time. Could that change down the line, yeah. I personally don't see it happening though. You don't really own any kind of digital game anyways unless it's a GOG copy or something. The exclusive version are seemingly because they paid for the port like with Nier Automata, which is on Square Enix being lazy shitheads and letting a decent chunk of their playerbase have to install a mod for the game to function properly. The Evil Within was stuff that was seemingly already in the game in the Bethesda Launcher version and they just ported that version over instead of the Steam version because why not port the version that has more content. All of this could obviously change down the line if Spencer retires or something but the second in line would probably be Matt Booty who has a history actually developing games and has a history of being hands off with mandates and stuff like that.
They are competing with Steam because if they weren't they wouldn't be making their own online storefront with a launcher and with improved versions of games to draw people from other storefronts. They're trying to fight a corporate war on two fronts, long term I dunno how that could work out. But they're mostly geared towards service based stuff which would draw people away from new releases on Steam than anything else. Online Only Multiplayer games are hard to predict people people will need to leave the established ones in droves or there would have to be a new FOTM ones like Fall Guys and Among Us. For example games like Monster Hunter never took off on Xbox itself.