Microsoft asks why devs are skipping Xbox, but the answer seems obvious

With the PS5 clearly winning this generation over the Xbox, it means more people are investing in their digital libraries on the PlayStation platform. Unless people are willing to ditch their digital games and start fresh on a new platform, the gap will continue to widen in future generations

[thorstein]

75% of Xbox Series owners bought the S.

Modern gamers want what the X, PS5, and PCs can handle.

This isn't rocket science.

[jznrpg]

+ Xbox has a declining base and most of them rely on GamePass instead of buying games. Add it all up and you get business decisions

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Why is SE bringing FF back to Xbox?

[Hotpot]

@343 because of the brand name, and because they can handle the financial risk if it fails.

But when we talk about medium to small sized studios, oftentimes when they release game it's their studios fate on the line. They have to weigh carefully whether or not the resource spent worth the potential profit they'll get when porting to a platform.

In fact, there are lots of example of games releasing on 1 or 2 platform first to see gamers' receptions before porting it to another platform. Naturally when choosing that first few platform XB is wayy down the line especially if it's not on game pass.

[sokisa]

FFXVI didn't sell great on Steam so, I am not sure why they would care about Xbox sales.

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[wesnytsfs]

@343_Guilty_Spark, Because its financially stupid to not sell AAA games on multiple platforms. Square was not making their money back on the games with just Playstation releases.

[GamerRN]

If Xbox doesn't knock it out of the park next console/handheld, I think it's game over...

[Cacabunga]

Not possible when their games release everywhere

[IRetrouk]

There isn't gonna be another console, atleast, not a traditional one.

[SolidBoss816]

Console wise maybe but they will not completely disappear from gaming especially with all those studios they acquired.

[GamerRN]

@IRetrouk

I'm hoping they release a console PC hybrid, but not just a reference. If they actually do a subsidized PC Console Hybrid, I will be ecstatic!

[Michiel1989]

then why did 75% get the S? contradicting yourself right away
and no, you don't get to say because they bought the S so they aren't a modern gamer, cause then i can just call everyone who doesn't build their own pc for 3k+ a casual gamer and base my argument around that.

[GamerRN]

You make a valid point, hence the Sony disagrees...

[n1kki6]

Clearly they don't if 75% of people bought the S. Do you have a source for the stat?

[thorstein]

Good question.

Here you go

https://n4g.com/news/256754...

[GamerRN]

@Thor

I think you missed the point...

[Tacoboto]

The power difference between Series S and X is secondary to Microsoft's terrible communication and inability to have any consistent expectations.

MS said Series S was a 1440p 60fps machine. Wrong.
MS had Halo Infinite running at 120fps in the beta on Series S. That mode was taken out until it returned a year later.
Last gen games couldn't run in their best form on the new gen Series S.
All this RDNA2 talk, but no first-party examples taking advantage of the feature set.
Unoptimized SDKs at launch.
Day One Game Pass launches, but no big first party games for the entirety of 2022 and first half of 2023.
And now, it's impossible to know which games of theirs will end up on what platforms.

They shot themselves in both feet with their absolute lack of confidence in their own platform. Why develop for Xbox when Xbox is developing for PS and Switch, and making Steam the best storefront to buy their games on PC with improved support for mods and such?

[Lightning77]

The clown show over at MS. The inconsistency and uncertainty over at MS needs to be studied it's insane and s bit comical How can they have not have a clue how to run things.

[Sarcasm]

It all started with Mattrick, and went downhill from there. It's pretty wild how much they stumbled since the Xbone and never truly recovered.

[neomahi]

Trying to make everyone happy doesn't ever work. But that's a woke/liberal company out of a woke/liberal state, using woke/liberal minds in woke/liberal business practices. You're never going to make everyone happy. Create your vision, build your business plan and just go with it. Stop trying to stretch yourself thin in so many areas to try to make people happy. All people want and crave, since we were a year old is consistency, that's it. Xbox tried to please everyone and it backfired. Nintendo and Sony said "this is our vision" and stuck to it, never veered. Nintendos done it forever and even though PS5 is blowing up in Sonys face, they've made the decision and moving forward anyway. They're not stopping and trying to backpeddle or change things to reinvent. No, they're moving forward with it anyway. That's how Nintendo does, they see it through and on the next gen console cycle try again. They don't stop and try to reinvent the wheel there, they take that learning experience and then learn from it and it always comes out better the next time. Xbox are trying to cater to too many people, you're never gonna make everyone happy, it's not possible

[Christopher]

1. Lowest market reach
2. Majority of audience is on weakest console hardware
3. Most publishers are not on board with subscription gaming except if they can get more money from MTX/DLC down the road when full sales have declined greatly

[Walalon]

Nice summary, they are probably more points to that but that's the harsh reality of Xbox these days.

[Eonjay]

Totally agree on number 1. Money is king. They are going to focus on platforms that offer the greatest returns. This is really basic and simple.

[Knightofelemia]

As a publisher or a developer you are into it to make money back just like any business. Microsoft after the XB360 has been going down hill. They are dead last in sales, developers have to nerf their game to run on the Series S, Microsoft can't figure out what to do with the Xbox brand. They just finally released an all digital Series X which is really late to the party. I'm sorry but if I were a developer or publisher I would skip the Xbox flood the market on PC, PS5, and the Switch if it can handle the game. I honestly don't regret selling my Series X.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

No shit...

[Sonic1881]

In Phil we trust 🤔

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Lmao trust to put xbox in a worsen situation(joking) but fr what did Phil really show for it?

[Reaper22_]

Phil still has his job. Where is Jim Ryan?

[Dandalandan117]

Just wait until E3...

[Lightning77]

Everyone's waiting for E3 these days.

[Walalon]

Probably Phil tattooed that catch phrase in their butt cheeks

[Reaper22_]

What are these games that are supposedly skipping xbox. 3rd party is still the heartbeat of the industry and 99% of them are on xbox.

[ironmonkey]

Feels like skipping due to noone buying them on that platform. Hard truth.

[Christopher]

I mean, most games by this logic are still cross-gen. But totally no issues like BG3 delays and now Black Myth: Wukong delays.Then there is Enotria which left not because of the platform but just lack of response. Then there's the fact that people have become more publicly vocal about the Series S. While most games are going most places (again, including PS4 and Xbox One), let's not act like there hasn't been a big tone shift on the support of the Series consoles lately.

[Dogpool]

Black myth Wukong for a start. Baldurs gate 3 wasn’t a good look either

[Reaper22_]

Those games didnt skip xbox. They were delayed.

[rippermcrip]

Microsoft has failed the last 2 gens. But you're right. This idea that devs are skipping Xbox is bogus at this point. No one can answer your question because it isn't true.

BG3 was just a delay
Black Myth was just a delay
Christopher brought up Entoria. But the devs were working on Xbox and Microsoft simply failed to respond to them for help with getting the game submitted (which is another reason Microsoft is a joke).

Maybe they will start skipping it completely in the future, but it hasn't really happened yet.

[Dogpool]

“This idea that devs are skipping Xbox is bogus at this point. No one can answer your question because it isn't true.”

Nice comment, aged like fine milk. Maybe Microsoft can assist and answer your question for you:

https://gamerant.com/micros...

Anticipated response: “nah man you’re lying just because Microsoft is asking devs why they are skipping Xbox, it doesn’t mean there are devs skipping Xbox mate”

And yes Baldur’s gate 3 skipped Xbox to the point where damage was done. Black myth wukong, the same experience but worse.

[Einhander1972]

You're living in an alternate reality.

Games get announced every week that are skipping xbox.

If this wasn't true Microsoft wouldn't be reaching out to developers to ask why they are skipping the platform... duh...

Xbox fans refuse to believe that xbox is failing even when it's Microsoft themselves saying it...

[rippermcrip]

Name them then, they should be plentiful.

[IAMRealHooman]

@rippermcrip
Fantasy Friends: Dream Worlds (PS5, PS4, Switch, PC) - October 22
Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven (PS5, PS4, Switch, PC) - October 24
Ys X: Nordics (PS5, PS4, Switch, PC) - October 25
Clock Tower: Rewind (PS5, PS4, Switch) - October 31
Farmagia (PS5, Switch, PC) - November 1
Run From Mummies (PS5, PC) - November 6
Lego Horizon Adventures (PS5, Switch, PC) - November 14
Skydance's Behemoth (PS5, PC) - December 5
Fairy Tail 2 (PS5, PS4, Switch) - December 13

[Demetrius]

Ubisoft and Microsoft are in a race this gen to show off who are the worst lol seriously tho Microsoft you're always canceling games, showing games that are more than a year away from release. One thing I always loved about Sony&Nintendo they announced games when they aren't too far from a release date they be realistic, Microsoft is puffed up on ego badly nowadays

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Man MS trolling asking devs why they prefer PS over Xbox. MS themselves are choosing PS over Xbox by giving them their games. MS hasn’t released a single banger must have game this gen (to be fair neither has Sony) but at least Sony gives gamers something to play. Just go 3rd party already MS and this is coming from a die hard Xbox fan since day one.

[LoveSpuds]

I have played plenty of must play games on PS5 personally 🙄

[RupeeHoarder]

As have I.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Like? Most of their heavy hitters can also be played on PS4. So what must have game has released on PS5?

[Asterphoenix]

I would dread if MS knock out other consoles out the competition more than other companies like they did with PC. Main reasons why developers are Skipping Xbox
-Sony/Nintendo has better relationship with Devs
-Nintendo and Sony have better console exclusives 1st and 3rd party
-MS organization is mismanaged like crazy and big mouthed execs.
-Throwing dollars at their problems and only way they have survived because of their money
-Series S issues
-Inconsistent with their words and actions
-Gamepass is good for lots of people but the downside is its stopped lots of people from buying games and releasing their console exclusives on PC day one. Plus Xbox is become less relevant since they need to put some games on PS due to needing the sales to make the money back for the Activision acquisition.
MS itself has given up on Xbox is the impression they're giving us.
-Not enough installment base for some companies to port games to Xbox
-Console exclusives on PS/Nintendo interest me much more

It's simple

[neomahi]

Yup, publicity stunt. Phil Spencer just can't accept the fact they screwed up and it's over. It's not rocket science, dude

[cthulhucultist]

They should have spared the time and resources and asked N4G instead :-)

[gold_drake]

devs dont want the additional workload and spend more money

[dveio]

I really wonder how big the true impact of Series S developmental bottlenecks must be right now.

Studios out there have been so used to align their schedule alongside console lifecycles. In fact, one can imagine 7 years can actually be quite short in terms of pushing hardware and engines further.

This isn't even taking pure game development time into account.

So, you're a studio working on one, maybe two big AA or AAA projects during this lifecycle.

And now, after 4 years in, the Series S might be showing you "Nope, nothing you've been working on to push your vision for the next project works with me. You gotta cut it!"

Not everyone out there has the ressources like R*. And even with GTA6 I really wonder how they will treat the S version.

I don't know, man. The Series S sure is a nice machine technologically. But it wasn't a good choice for a home console's main lifecycle. Maybe it should have been a streaming handheld.

[infinite-loop]

tbh: it takes to much investment and time for gamers to support multiple console systems at a time, best to just choose one...

[RiseNShine]

They've burned billions of Windows money purchasing everything and they're still losing, even to the worst Sony generation i can remember, it takes some merit to fail so bad.

[MrDead]

You teach your user base not to buy games then games won't arrive on your system unless you cover predicted sales costs, which are low because you taught your user base not to buy games.

It's the s**t spiral MS has created.

[Chocoburger]

MS tried to compete with Sony by creating a game rental service, and spending billions of dollars on publishers. What they didn't realize is that these two choices lead to the end of Xbox as we know it. They ruined themselves beyond repair, software is barely selling, that's where the money is at in the console business, and they're not making much of it anymore. With all those billions they spent to acquire companies, they now have to go multiplatform in order to recoup costs.

It didn't have to be this way. MS could have actually been decent in this industry, by adding to it, creating good games that were fully polished prior to release. Not trying to create online check-in DRM, buying massive companies, or encouraging us to not buy games, but instead subscribe to their rentals for eternity.

I want Sony to have competition, but MS ain't it.

[Aloymetal]

100%
But allow me to correct something you wrote if you don't mind;)
''MS tried to compete with Sony by creating a game rental service,''
They were forced by Sony to create a rental service because they knew there was nothing else on the table to beat or even come close to Sony's PS popularity and huge fanbase around the globe. MS learnt this lesson and knew this since the 360 days when even then they failed to sell more consoles and be more popular than PS around the world. When you can't beat your opponent at their worst it's practically impossible to beat them at their best.

[repsahj]

I just want to ask the same thing! Microsoft, why skipping Xbox? Lol!

[Aloymetal]

Lmao! I heard the new halo is releasing first on PS and then on xbox...lol;)
But seriously, wouldn't surprise me lol.

[883]

Are they series-S? ;-)

[FPS_D3TH]

Series s, as hot ass trash as it is, is the majority of their install base and they’re mostly content with only buying CoD and Madden. The enthusiasts and gamers who consistently buy games are not playing on Xbox

[Toecutter00]

Console makers build their base on exclusive first party titles. Halo became irrelevant under 343i as they used the Halo brand to chase trends rather than stay true to the brand. And there's so many other IP that MS has just sat on because their focus has been on selling subscriptions. Therefore, every game needed online and multi-player focused and it didn't matter if they were good. It was just content for Game Pass. Great games sell systems. Period. And if Xbox had a larger install base because they had great exclusives then the devs would be making games for their system in spite of the series S.