Where does Microsoft go from here?

This gen hasn't been great for them, flops everywhere, constantly in 3rd place month after month in console sales (even on their own turf). With the recent Sea of Thieves flop it's not looking good for the future. Crackdown is a lock to flop, it looks like a early 360 game but more shit.

What is the problem? Why can't Microsoft turn the corner? Is it Phil Spencer and Microsoft meddling or are their studios just not that great?

Wonder who's alt this is... hmmm.

@hrt_rulz01: I was wondering the exact same this from his very first post in another thread. lol

I think they'll still be around in 10 years. Deep breaths I know it's hard. Everything will be ok.

No one knows for sure. It’s tough to say what the problem is. It could be lack of talent, lack of funding or too many suits meddling in the development of these games. Whatever it is, it’s clear that Phil isn’t doing enough or he’s doing the wrong things.

Only time will tell if they can right the ship but it’s clear that whatever they’ve been doing for the past 4 years the Xbone has been out isn’t working, and some drastic changes at MS Studios will need to be made.

There game series are dead Halo, gears of war crackdown etc. Gears of war gets repetitive and Halo had a chance but they blew it. They really need some new game series which is what they are trying to do but its sometimes like finding gold.

Up, what other direction is there for them?

The generation isn't over yet, wait until E3.

Sideways.

Rumor has it that MS has been looking to purchase new studios which would help them to have more talents and properties. So I'm guessing that's the direction they're going for.

Saw this on Resetera a minute ago from someone who claims he got it from a thread on Reddit from a guy who claims to be someone that worked on the game....

It could explain why the game is lacking so much in content even after being developed for 4 years. It's troubling if this turns out to be true.

More on the Reddit thread.

8 anti-Sea of Thieves threads on the first page.

8.

Theory and rumors. Sea of Thieves and Crackdown (which sadly may flop but will see) were supposedly in development since 2014 before Phil took over. March 25th 2014 is when Gregg Mayles tweeted "Group Shared Narrative" where Phil didn't take over until March 31st. Crackdown and Sea of Thieves were both rolling out development by the time Phil took over. Same thing with ReCore, Quantum Break etc, started in early 2014.

State of Decay 2 will no doubt be a hit as it's building off of a previous entry that had sold over 4 million copies and adding the co-op that people wanted, I have no doubt that'll be the big exclusive MP hit this gen. Crackdown is up in the air since it's supposedly in development hell. After this I get the feeling Microsoft is going to lay off these multiplayer focused games. There's no way they're ignoring how well Horizon Zero Dawn did critically and commercially which is probably why they're having Playground develop Fable and are probably going to double down on single player games while leaving multiplayer to Gears/Halo/Forza. 343 is probably going to stick with Halo for the forseeable future. There's no telling if Coalition is working on a new IP or not but there was the idea that they might be working on the new Perfect Dark, we'll definitely be getting a new Perfect Dark game though but no clue who's making it.

Microsoft had stated they were going to invest 1 billion dollars into Xbox but that was before Satya took over and, being an advocate for cloud and not fond of consumer devices, wasn't 100% behind Xbox. Supposedly before his promotion, since Xbox was under the Windows and Devices division, Phil had to answer to his boss, Terry Myerson who was adamant on cutting budgets unless it directly benefited Windows. That explains why the Xbox has had an abysmal 2017, why Scalebound got the axe, Phil wasn't allowed to invest in new games since Terry wouldn't approve the budgets. Now that Xbox is it's own division, now that Phil directly answers to Satya and now that Satya is behind him, I get the feeling that they're going to be announcing a shit ton of exclusive games at E3 and not canceling them. The only caveat is that it's probably in preparation for next gen.

Supposedly Microsoft has an entire division, not just a division of Xbox, dedicated solely to games, developing them, publishing them, acquiring them etc. They're hiring a shit ton of people and investing a ton of money into game development now. If Gamepass is the future of Xbox, the only way it's going to work is if they keep adding content that people want to play, adding new content on a regular basis. It's why Netflix is so successful. Hopefully now that they're not directly tied to the Windows division, they can get rid of the awful Windows 10 UI from Xbox and give it something original.

You know when you think about, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have all suffered a painful generation with the One, The PS3 and the Wii U. Of course the Wii U was a cluster of epic proportions, and Sony did finish strong with the PS3. Both of them learned and now they're both killing it with the Switch and PS4 sales and games wise. Hopefully it'll be Microsofts turn next gen.

Source: Rand_al_Thor_19 is a very well respected Xbox gamer, he' was invited to E3 in 2016 where he broke over a million Gamerscore. He' knows Phil and Mike Ybarra and supposedly has contacts inside MIcrosoft. I recommend checking out his Youtube channel.

All I know is, if Microsoft doesn't kill it at E3 this year, no more damage controlling, I'm done, PC and Switch for me.

This place is well known as cowspot for a reason.

I like how the only people talking about Sea of Thieves is Sony gamers. But I understand, if the only thing I had was a console with a large amount of movie games you complete after just a few hours, never to be played again, I'd probably try to find entertainment elsewhere too..

Rare were never a good developers imo. goldeneeye and perfect dark release at those time when far superior FPS released on PC like quake and half life.

sea of thieves turn out bad is not really surprisingly.

Please tell me this doesn't include my SoT hype thread?

On that note, I'm kinda surprise it never got Sticky to begin with.

If you had been following these boards, and weren't such a silly troll you'd know that Xbox outsold switch according to the most recent figures. In fact it only just came 50000 units behind PS4 and bought in more revenue due to x1x.

Did you play their earlier shit, like Snake Rattle n Roll on NES, or the DK: Country games on SNES? Killer Instinct? Those are really good. I enjoy their later 3D games as well, such as Banjo Kazooie and I regret never playing Kameo, since it looks cool, but ever since MS took over Rare, they've not been the same. Not sure if that's MS or Rare's fault..

Better start preparing for next gen...

@ghosts4ever: To be fair dude if we only ever got games that you like released we would only have about 2 games a year to play.

MS/Xbox haters are as desperate and insecure as ever. Frankly, I just don't get it.

The problem is that they don't take chance and allow the product to grow after initial setback like Sony. They want instant hits like Halo and Gears and if a new IP fails to do that they abandon it. On the other hand Sony and Nintendo gives IPs with potential second chance. Sadly, MS can't even rely now on Halo and Gears as they have become stale and lost their charm.

It's baffling to see MS didn't fund Ryse 2, Alan Wake 2, Quantum Break 2 etc. All these IPs had potential, it's just that they couldn't execute it right the first time.

8-spot

You hit the nail on the head.

serious answer:

Xbox One is the brainchild of Steve Ballmer, The entire team is structured around a culture he created.

A culture that does not work in the long term.

Like most very large companies a culture takes a long time to build and a long time to change.

The current CEO of Microsoft is interested in removing the old culture of Steve Ballmer from all areas of Microsoft but xbox is not high on the priority so it goes unchanged.

What they need to do moving forward is

1. focus on Xbox the service itself, a service that will then work on multiple devices. leveage that existing player membership

2. forget about hardware. MS is for whatever reason very bad at hardware in the consumer space. they have a long track record of failure in the consumer space other than the older xbox, so they should leverage what they are good at which is software.

3. They should create (not buy) an in house gaming studio. Make majorly kick butt games, focus on just making amazing games

@sts106mat: Calm down, lem.

@sts106mat: I'm just lolin at kids like you trying hard to damage control. It's hilarious watching you guys get all "leave Xbox alone!!!!!", Little babies.

Right? People act as if SW is indicative of real life at all. The Xbox division is earning money. Where do they go? To E3 in June. LOL They don't care what anyone here says.

They actually tried to buy Ryse from Crytek and they wouldn't sell it. QB2? The way people here talk its the anti christ, now it had potential? Alan Wake 2 they didn't because they went with QB a new IP. Im not saying you don't have a point because I agree with you, but they simply didn't want to second party Ryse again.They have no excuse when it comes to Sunset Overdrive sequel.

Real xbox gamers actually get responses from Spencer,Ybarra, Greenberg. I have had twitter conversations with them and the fact is everything is hush hush, close to their chest now. It frustrates us but they have been very vocal on twitter since Scalebound that they will not talk about any game well before release anymore. Babybackballbaggers think this means there is absolutely nothing in the works. Thats just being ridiculously stupid.

As for not taking a chance and allow a product to grow, what do you think the plan with Sea of thieves is?

Of course, what a brilliant strategy, why didn't Microsoft think about it?

System Wars, the land of armchair business execs and developers...

they have been thinking about exactly that.

First time I heard the idea of using Xbox Live and ditching the hardware was from Tom Merrit.

I think its a brilliant idea and he explains in more detail why its a good idea.

since then there have been hints at MS of the idea.

@tryit: First, Xbox as a console isnt going anywhere, Phil has already stated that they're working on the successor to the X.

With that being said, they're most likely going to offer Gamepass on every platform, minus the PS4. That I agree on.

Microsoft will focus on services as that's where the money is, a reason why they started this netflix for games solution.

What microsoft should do is focus on the PC market and wave there xbox brand into there. Which they are already doing.

1) launch xbox two in 2019.

2) Make it a high end mini PC and sell it at cost price.

3) Put in a 8 core /16 thread cpu at ~4,5ghz with aio cooling

4) 16gb ddr4

5) Highest end volta gpu they can get there hands on budget wise, basically a 1170 would work.

6) Make it dual boot, xbox and windows ( windows full control towards the user ).

7) Make it clear what your console model is going to be from day one. ( for example, every 3 years there will be launching a revision of this model ) so in 3 years from now we will get a next gen cpu / next gen gpu / more ram. But games will work no matter what on the first model for 3 generations in total.

So that basically means you will be fine with a 2019 machine until 2028 before they drop support.

This way, the console will always be updated and never fall behind high end PC's.

8) advertise it as:

-) high end pc for pc gamers for cheap, this could be interesting for pc gamers with a budget and don't want hassle and or want something for cheap. It also helps to push PC into the living room with a proper big picture mode and a capable OS.

-) media work station that can do video editing etc etc, so can be advertised for streamers / youtubers etc.

-) high end console, that will most likely trounce anything sony will come up with as they simple can't do this through less capital to burn, with access towards the entire PC backlog make it so mouse and keyboard can be connected but there are still seperate servers next towards combined servers for people that don't want to deal with it.

-) huge backlog of games, compatible with xbox one games and everything PC has to offer.

-) they can advertise this to indies and everybody in the market that now your games are going to cover a huge amount of people at a reduced price against steam. ( steam however is fully accessable on xbox and windows dual boot solution.

-) ultimate E-sport machine, can be connected and played on 1080p 1ms 240hz screen at 200+ fps in frostnite, or 300 fps in league of legends for example, but can also play 4k 30fps at reduced settings if wanted on a tv.

9) console optimization can still exist but will be most of all be pointless at this point. It will save them lots of R&D which result in money the same goes for indie devs or any devs for that matter which makes it attractive.

10) remove xbox live fee, incooperate it into rent games for 10 bucks a month and make a deal with netflix that if you buy a straight year into this subscription you get free netflix with it. Also this will reduce the price of new first party releases by 10% to create more value.

11) First party is now more a bonus, they can push more and more games from indies through there shop as its far more interesting to get there stuff on it, hell if they got a PC version it will work anyway so free money.

12) push emulation as something you can also do for endless amounts of games from any platform you "own" which keeps your library all digital and more up to date of older devices. ( as microsoft consoles are horrible to emulate, this going to be interesting to push ).

13) Free's up more time for first party devs to deliver and make something unique instead of being pushed for time windows.

14) money hat all sony exclusives that are not owned by them to get ports ( this also helps pc gamers ).

15) Good value for PC gamers and Console gamers.

Conclusion

Consumers now know what they get, it will probably attract a ton of new users. Even for content creators. I could even see some PC users making the jump if they keep the value good of those boxes.

What sony does at this point doesn't matter at this point anymore. People will keep on buying there console for the few exclusives it gets ( which will be less every gen as dev times take more and more time ). Aka sony will be the new nintendo next gen.

Even if there PS5 somehow is going to trounce this mini pc which it most likely isn't capable of doing even remotely, hardware wise then 3 years later a new box arrives that has all new tech and has new high end stuff again.

Get it out of the gate at a loss to promote it, again something sony can't offer.

Also make no deals with sony about being able to use windows, and boom they are DOA on this front too compete with. As they have nothing really. there linux attempts are going to fall flat on there face as there is zero support for it. And makes it completely pointless.

ah well that is disappointing. I think they will regret the direction they are going.

if a game isnt good, what good is a 'gamepass'?

I dont want to discount the rest of your post and I will try to go back and read it all but I want to immediately address the netflix of gaming problem

1. streaming, gamepass, great deals, buddles, multiple devices all of that means NOTHING...if the content in question is not good. I think they need to focus on actual games, making actual great games first... second is everything else.

2. what makes netflix great for movies and TV is NOT what would make it great for games. Netflix allowed us to watch shows on demand (we can already game on demand). Video on demand is by far the most important 'sell' of netflix which is a problem games do not have to begin with.

so in my opinion they need to change their culture. What they need to be doing is talking to people about great games, not how to sell an empty vessel of a game.

The thing about the rest of your post is that to be compeletly frank they do not have games I want to play.

so turning an xbox in to a PC is just a waste of my attention. I already have a PC, I already have Steam I already play 10-20 hours a week on games I bought on Steam that I can not buy from MS.

so what the F?

Disband from the gaming industry. >:D

They're making money hand over fist with the Xbox, yes I'm sure Microsoft is going to regret making billions of dollars because an armchair business exec on the internet said so.

What are you talking about? We don't even know what they're developing right now...

Seriously you aren't making a lick of sense, it's like you're just saying random things in an attempt to sound intelligent...it isn't working.

Way i see it, the best course of action for Microsoft would be to auction off the Xbox brand in bite-sized pieces. My prediction still stands in regards to who owns what:

-Sony will go out of their way to own Halo (and possibly 343 industries)

-Gears of War will be an Epic Games IP again

-Nintendo will probably end up owning Rare's assets, close down Rare themselves and have all their classic IPs be revived by Nintendo EAD

-Paradox Interactive will most likely own Age of Empires, Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends

-A would-be school shooter would buy Battletoads for a dollar and step on several Youtubers to get rich

-Everything else will probably be split between Focus Home Interactive and THQ Nordic

If this scenario ever happened it would be more likely that Activision would buy Halo and put Bungie to work on it since Destiny is dead.

It continues to go down the toilet and it’s fangirls will continue to make excuses for it. Most pathetic system of all time

We will never have a real discussion on this because fanboy logic is too strong. Xbox is factually not going anywhere. Any scenario that includes that is simply delusional. MS is going to be focused on games and would not be showing games until they are near ready. So, games like Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 and their former (Fable Legends and Scalebound) in which the games are announced years prior to release is not going be a re-occurrence for their future games. With said that games like Ori 2 are going to be a closer reflection of MS newer game direction.

So more 2D indie platformers are what we can expect on the mighty X1X?

@Pedro: lol sure buddy. Keep telling yourself that. How could you confidently even say that? You have no idea. For all we know e3 is gonna be another repeat of bullshit corporate rah rah shill talk, with more “new ips 2-3 years down the road”

The irony of your response is so sad that you don't even see it. LOL.

Yes! Because that's what I was implying. Try harder next time.

All I will say is that this game's launch has increased pressure on Xbox leadership to change their cadence at E3. I don't think this is the beginning of the end of Xbox as a brand unless they continue to drop the ball.

The Xbox fanbase is many things. Resilient is one of those things. I'd wager that the pendulum is going to swing one of two ways in the months ahead. They could get spooked that a high profile launch got panned and grow even more conservative or they will take this opportunity to turn a corner and perhaps be more loose lipped about what they have cooking in the back.

One of those strategies will work, and make us look back on the Great SoT fallout with humor. The other strategy will put their fanbase in an unwelcome position of having to defend their choice to get a powerful system at a hefty price point. Honestly, I don't think MS is that dumb. They have games to announce. I'm so confident in that assertion that I'd even go so far as to say that Sony decided to waffle last year's E3 and keep some cards close to them for this year as a hedged bet against that very scenario.