Boston (TheNextXbox) – The successor to the Xbox 360 is right around the corner, as the Major Nelson countdown has the entire gaming world on alert. One thing that is almost a given with the successor to the Xbox 360, for the sake of this article we will call it the Xbox Next, is that it will include a Blu-ray optical drive. This is due to the fact that next-generation games are going to require a lot more space than is currently available on a DVD. This type of optical format has been utilized by Sony throughout the life of the PlayStation 3 and will continue forward to the upcoming PlayStation 4 in all likelihood as well. What many gamers are missing though, is that there is a real chance that Microsoft may opt against allowing Blu-ray movie playback on the Xbox Next.
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people
Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much
Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region
Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.
I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games
Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo
The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.
Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"
Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”
Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever
Nice one ☝️
This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.
No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.
Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.
Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?
Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.
As the article noted, perhaps they'll build it in but charge you extra to use the feature like how they pointed out the original XBox had a DVD player, but wouldn't allow you to play DVD movies unless you shelled out for remote.
It wouldn't be the first time, or the last time, we've seen Microsoft charge you extra to access something you've already purchased (much like the extra fees to play multiplayer content developers included on the game you purchased). They'll keep doing it until there's enough push back from consumers. You really can't blame them if people are willing to pay.
They probably will go the same route as Nintendo. They will create their own format based on Blu-ray but with no playback of movies to not pay royalties.
i would hope the Microsoft Company realizes many people have already started adding bluray to their current DVD libraries. that being said, it would be really pointless to have a feature blocking bluray playback when people will still buy bluray movies anyway. i, along with many others have purchased a bluray player. the only thing Microsoft allowing bluray playback does for me, is allow me to choose which room i watch the movie in, either the room with the bluray player or my living room with the future xbox. i certainly do not plan on any device, to build a movie collection by buying digital movies only or really at all, that to me is beyond asinine. sure ill still use netflix and hulu, but that doesnt alter my choices as to if im going to buy a DVD or a bluray movie.
"Instead, Microsoft required gamers to purchase a little DVD playback adapter that came with a remote control. This activated the ability that the system already had to play DVD movies"
They call that a double tax don't they? Wow...how anyone could defend MS at all is beyond me. They nickle and dime for just about anything and users are so willing to give up their hard earned money.
"Xbox Live Gold subscriptions generate roughly $1 billion in revenue for Microsoft every year"
And this is the reason why Live will remain a paid for service next generation.
If MS don't offer Blu-ray playback then it could be a mistake. When Sony first released the PS3, they advertised it heavily as a Blu-ray player because they were trying to establish the format. But now it's an established format, so Sony would have a big advantage if they began advertising the PS4 as a Blu-ray player (and it was 4k enabled).