Xbox Game Studios Stupidity Hate Thread Game Pass Edition

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GZX_ULTRA said:
Iirc the Xbox original had X-link & Insignia, basically services to allow you to play the Xbox original online again post 2010 shutdown
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A couple of years ago a turbo autist got Xbox live kind of up and running. I didn't follow it too closely, like their objective was to get Halo 2 back online but it wasnt cooperating. As of now I think you could put the original Xbox in the same boat as the dreamcast where hobbyists resurrected the online.

The 360 though? No idea. Probably nothing since there hasn't been a need yet.
 
Mystery Spy said:
To be honest, I doubt Game Pass was very profitable for them in the first place. The deal really was too good to be true. It’s more like Game Pass was a loss leader, and they’re trying to stop the bleeding. But as it turns out, the model just isn’t sustainable, and it’s cheaper to go full PC as a gamer.
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They were just running the standard business model of

> Run a cheap (or free) service to build a userbase
> Invest in value for the userbase and build the rest of the product/service around them
> Raise the price and become profitable

The main issue is they never built a large userbase and haven't really figured out the "value add" part of a $29.99/month service offering. They pretty clearly wanted to have a larger library of better games then they have but they claim to have 34,000,000 subscribers as of last year. It was alleged to be ~25% of their revenue in 2021 and they've been leaning into it really hard (and divesting from game studios at the same time).

I wouldn't pay $30/month for early access to Outer Worlds 2 or High on Life 2 considering both existing games were complete dogshit and I don't really care about Call of Duty, but I can just buy it outright if I wake up and care one day. There isn't a single xbox exclusive in development that I could even pretend to care about and even if I did - they're all up in the air anyhow.
 
Xbox consoles are now getting a fullscreen Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ad at boot, just a day after a 50% price hike was announced,

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:story:
 
Tanner Glass said:
I wouldn't pay $30/month for early access to Outer Dykes 2 or High on Reddit 2 considering both existing games were complete dogshit and I don't really care about Slop of Duty, but I can just buy it outright if I wake up and care one day. There isn't a single xbox exclusive in development that I could even pretend to care about and even if I did - they're all up in the air anyhow.
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most console "exclusives" will be on PC anyway.
the entire thing of goypass was being cheap, that's literally fucking it and they ruined the damn thing.
 
Tanner Glass said:
There isn't a single xbox exclusive in development that I could even pretend to care about and even if I did - they're all up in the air anyhow.
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Only one Xbox exclusive comes to mind for me and that's Gears of War: E-Day, primarily because it's a prequel to the original Gears of War without the open world of Gears 5.
Hermiöne Granger said:
Xbox consoles are now getting a fullscreen Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ad at boot, just a day after a 50% price hike was announced,

G2Qp3JhWoAAxCi9.jpg
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That explains why I'm still recurring at $20 for now. When it hits $30, I'm out. That's too much money just to rent games.
 
Jace on ice said:
So is Obsidian shutting down? Because their lead dev admitted that their entire business model was to shit out mid games specifically for Gamepass.
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That's the only way Microsoft owned studios can make money. Their games have to go on Game Pass, so retail sales are going to be low with all the free trials. The model works if studios are constantly shoveling mid games out all the time instead of a truly great game every few years. That way MS can claim "50 new games this year!" because number is all that matters.

MS is in trouble anyway with how the money making part of the business was given over to a new CEO who technically answers to Satya but really is going to do his own thing.
 
Jace on ice said:
So is Obsidian shutting down? Because their lead dev admitted that their entire business model was to shit out mid games specifically for Gamepass.
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To be fair to Obsidian at least they're capable of releasing games, even if they're not great. Most other Microsoft studios seem to struggle to get a single mid game out in a 5-7 year time frame.
 
Green Kitbash said:
A couple of years ago a turbo autist got Xbox live kind of up and running. I didn't follow it too closely, like their objective was to get Halo 2 back online but it wasnt cooperating. As of now I think you could put the original Xbox in the same boat as the dreamcast where hobbyists resurrected the online.

The 360 though? No idea. Probably nothing since there hasn't been a need yet.
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I think the most recent development (someone can correct me) with the 360 is being able to run hard mod stuff without having to actually open up your 360
 
Peaches the Wonder Cat said:
That's the only way Microsoft owned studios can make money. Their games have to go on Game Pass, so retail sales are going to be low with all the free trials. The model works if studios are constantly shoveling mid games out all the time instead of a truly great game every few years. That way MS can claim "50 new games this year!" because number is all that matters.

MS is in trouble anyway with how the money making part of the business was given over to a new CEO who technically answers to Satya but really is going to do his own thing.
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Mid games sell no consoles though.
 
Incecticyder said:
Mid games sell no consoles though.
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I know, but Obsidian (and other studios) don't care about selling consoles, they care about staying open by pushing slop onto game pass because the beancounters want to say "1000 games!" even if they're trash.

They do spend some money to get games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Silksong up, but Silksong costs less than game pass. But I'm not buying an xbox for that, most of these play on PC anyway.
 
Mystery Spy said:
To be honest, I doubt Game Pass was very profitable for them in the first place. The deal really was too good to be true. It’s more like Game Pass was a loss leader, and they’re trying to stop the bleeding. But as it turns out, the model just isn’t sustainable, and it’s cheaper to go full PC as a gamer.

A cheap gaming pc and steam offer more value than an xbox with gamepass.

Their gaming handling has been atrocious. Halo, their flagship franchise and biggest system seller, hasn’t been good, let alone relevant, in decades. They bought many studios, but there are still no exclusives in sight. Imagine buying all those IPs and studios, outspending everyone, and still being dead last.
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Xbox hardware sales are abysmal. Trying to keep it going must be like having an albatross around their neck.

The Gamepass on PC is still cheap so maybe this is the way of easing people off the hardware.
 
I mean, what is MS supposed to do to succeed? They forgot at least a decade ago how to make good games, their hardware is shit, and since games that would sell people on Gamepass are nine figures minimum to make and market, that shit's never going to be profitable because the third parties are going to want a big cut to make up for shitty direct sales figures.

Just put a bullet in the gaming division and leave it in the ditch, as was the wise move since the first Xbox.
 
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