What does 23 studios translate to?

Xbox is officially Xbox hardware, PC and mobile. aka multiplatform. Now that the obvious is out of the way, let us talk about GamePass and Xbox Game Studios possible projection. Xbox Game Studios has purchased a new studio every year since 2018 with last year being the exception since the deal for Zenimax only closed this year at ~7 billion dollars.

The average production schedule for a triple A game is around five years. This enables Xbox Game Studios to eventually reach a point in which they can effectively release 4-5 triple A games every year with just its in house studios. Depending on the timeline, that successive flow of games can be either this year or next year but once it has started, they can effectively maintain that momentum indefinitely. Which I believe is there strategy for validating GamePass even more over time.

Just for some perspective, Netflix spent 17+ billion dollars in content just in 2020.

It translates to more games and that is what MS needed to address most. So, good on them for pulling their heads out of their asses and doing something about it.

It translates to Xbox still has no games lol.

False but your falsehood is going to be harder to sell. 😎

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3RD placestation

HaH

@bluestars: 🥱

Yeah once things get going it should be a pretty solid stream of games. Both big budget and smaller budget titles. There’s also a terrific portfolio of great IP’s to work with. Could make for a lot of cross brand stuff as well.

Don't be mean to Bluestars. With IP gone he can be your new partner in crime lol.

I know you can't help yourself when I post. 🤭

I just wish that they someone who could make a new Killer Instinct. 😔

23 studios that MS can mismanage and eventual destroy.

Mortal Kombat vs Killer IInstinct, please.

Isn't Killer Instinct dev owned by Amazon?

I think MS will be in a great position for their next hardware iteration. Not sure there will be much hope for XSeX/S until much later in their lifespan, but they are on track to resolve their biggest shortfall since entering the games market.

@Archangel3371: I'm honestly a bit surprised that they didn't allow the creation of a Killer Instinct game on Switch.

@davillain-: I enjoy me some Mortal Kombat but I don’t know if that’s a crossover that I’d be all that down for. Now Darkstalkers vs Killer Instinct is something that I could get behind.

@Pedro: I always thought it was own by MS...unless they sold it to Amazon. That's new to me if Amazon owns KI license.

@Pedro: Yeah Double Helix got picked up by Amazon. They started the development of Killer Instinct and then Iron Galaxy came in and worked on the next two seasons of the game. I think IG are doing something else right now, not sure.

it's all about Game Pass.. I believe the eventual goal is to have one major title release into Game Pass once a quarter along with 3rd party deals to fill out the rest..

as you illustrated, this is going to be very possible thanks to the 23 internal Xbox Game Studios.. it's just going to take time for the momentum to start and be maintained..

but once that train is moving, the Xbox Game Pass platform (which is essentially what "Xbox" is becoming) is going to be hard to beat in terms of ecosystems..

@davillain-: Amazon doesn’t own Killer Instinct they just bought out the initial developer, Double Helix, out from under Microsoft. Microsoft still very much owns the Killer Instinct IP.

I believe MS still owns the license just that the studio that developed the last one was purchased by Amazon. I read several comments that they did a great job.

I think Xbox is going to show some huge games soon at E3. They have two showings with the Microsoft one and the Bethesda one.

This. But let's hope that it's not just quantity and that their releases are actually of good quality.

Man that would be awesome. I would still take a Marvel vs. Capcom 4 (more like 2 than 3) first though. Either one would be awesome though.

Meanwhile at Sony

https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/27/sony-closing-japan-studio-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-playstation-14155264/

https://screenrant.com/naughty-dog-developing-multiple-games-difficult/

Oof

It translates to 'Craig'.

On paper its a very formidable setup now. they have a lot of studios and a lot of IP which has been known to sell a copy or 2.

If i was MS, this year at E3 (kind of a shame its virtual only but it is what it is) just absolutely drop teasers galore and start building the hype now for games even 5+ years away. treat it as a sign of things to come kind of E3 for gamepass and the Series X/S/Windows.

I mean what could they do?

Elder scrolls 6, Fallout 5, New quake maybe?, Bethesdas new sci-fi RPG, New pillars/obsidian RPG, forza, Give halo infinite a much better showing, double fines new game. i've forgotten who else they got at this point. Dishonoured? do they have that now? Some new IP too. thats not a bad E3 at all.

basically for every studio they have, show what they are currently working on and give a glimpse of the next thing they are working on too. even if its just a logo or just a proof of concept render (it can always be cancelled later if it's not working out :P).

it looks like, in terms of actual releases, its going to be another fairly quiet year for MSs first party (though they may have a few surprises at E3 of course). So use this year to start building the hype for 2022 and beyond.

it worked well for sony when they revealed FF7 Remake and a Shenume 3 kickstarter. they had nothing ready for release on the PS4 that year. it was a good demonstration on how to use E3. just drop those megatons.

"The average production schedule for a triple A game is around five years.". Isn't that only for new or resurrected ips? When a lot of the game is in place, they can do it in two or so years right?

I have to wonder what MS is planning with Forza Motorsport (8). It's almost been four years since the last one.

On the rest of your topic, that's why I'm not worried that there isn't a lot of games coming from MS right now. In fact it's reassuring that MS is open to not forcing out games before they are ready like they have done in the past. I think that it'll only benefit in quality.

In the past, MS would have forced out a lot of games for the launch year.

I disagree that MS should tease games that are a long way off. I like that they usually only talk about games coming out in a two year period. Anything could happen to the projects of the future. And if they're new ips, it won't mean anything to anyone.

Ken Lobb did an amazing job leading the studio's with KI.

@osan0: I strongly disagree with showing games that a very early in development just to build hype. It is a practice that needs to stop.

It translates to that Xbsex should come in first place by the of this console generation. But we all know that’s not going to happen, because MS loves to mishandle their studios and destroy them .

when the xbox games floodgates open..so will the cows tear ducts…HaH

3RD placestation

The seem to have stopped forcing deadlines which will improve quality, like Sony did in the PS3 era, when games took a long time through development. This is probably because they have enough studios that they can give the studios the time they need.

And they will be in 1st place with Gamepass subs. Already at 23M, and that's without new releases. It's going to grow even faster when big games come out.

I'm quite confident that Xcloud will be pretty decent once it finally finishes testing and is a fully functional service. I hope they can get that to macOS.

MS are offering consumers huge value and developers too, now that they've cut their revenue percentage on the PC Windows Store down to 12%.

So far MS is being pretty aggressive and has made all the right moves.

They could have even forced Halo Infinite out last year, like they did with FM5 on the Xbox One release, but they've given it an extra year and will continue supporting it post release.

@lebanese_boy: 😂

The problem with Xbox isn't that they have no games.

The problem is all of their games are playable on a PC, hence making the Xbox a redundant platform.

@Pedro@HalcyonScarlet: Ordinarily I would agree with you. it can certainly come back to bite. projects can be cancelled or can change a lot from the initial vision throughout development.

but MS are still on the backfoot here. they need more momentum in terms of getting more people subbed to gamepass. everyone is talking about xbox/gamepass in terms of value and access to games on the cheap which is ok, but not great. MS have spent an absolute fortune on devs, they need to start planting the idea now that xbox is where you need to go (or will need to go) for access to the best games.

Do what Marvel/disney do. lay it out for the next 2-3 years. as you say Pedro, one big game per quarter should be doable. MS probably already have an idea what they can release for next year and maybe the first half of 2023 at least. Show the schedule at E3 (make this the first of a yearly E3 schedule reveal even). get more people talking positively about MS games again. get the media talking more about MS games again.

I do believe that their plan is to layout an overall schedule but I don't think anything beyond a 2 year period is a wise move. I am hoping that this E3 we can get clearer picture of release timeframes for games like Everwild, Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed etc.

Not the biggest fan of Disneys, Marvel milking road map.

@Pedro: Now your talking. thats the kind of talk i want to see from MS at E3. new games from MS studios. Not BC. not value. not services or any of that. games. even if they are 2-3 years out. a good start.

@HalcyonScarlet: But it works.

We shall see what happens. If they drop the ball this E3 with all that content creation power then

@Pedro: oh god perish the thought. if they bottle it. if they have just another bad halo infinite showing and spend 45 minutes bragging about gamepass sub numbers then wrap up with a fallout......76 expansion....yeesh. they probably wont though.

23 studios and counting results in the Xbox brand and Game Pass becoming a household name within 5 years, overtaking the PlayStation brand with its sights to defend its throne against the big trillion dollar hitters, them being Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.

Sony isn't Microsoft's competition anymore. Sony doesn't have the money to play ball. I foresee them surviving one more generation before having to sell out.

@ZombieKiller7: 'The problem with Xbox isn't that they have no games.

The problem is all of their games are playable on a PC, hence making the Xbox a redundant platform'

It's the brand that needs to succeed. Putting the Xbox brand and Game Pass on as many pieces of hardware as possible is the plan for the inevitable future. If you think we'll be gaming on actual consoles in 10-15 years, you fail to see the forest for the trees.

Gaming will be all subscription based services similar to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, etc in the foreseeable future. No hardware needed. All we'll need is a Bluetooth controller.

There's a reason why Phil specifically stated before the Series X's release that consumers don't need to buy a Series X if they have a PC or smartphone. It's just another cheap option to gain access to Game Pass.

23 mill seems kinda of low, especially with amount of PC gamers there are and how many xb1 and x sold last gen. you would think with a launch date of june 2017 game pass would be higher then 23 mill

Do you know of any other services that are offering the same as GamePass that has higher user count?

What does 23 studios translate to?

Nuff said. :P

It's not. Consider that without new exclusives, it's grown from 15M Sept 2020, 18M Jan 2021, 23M April 2021. When the games start coming it'll grow even faster. Where as PSNow is at 2.2M last count, and that's over a REALLY long period of time.