It all started May 2013, Don Mattrick stepped onto a conference stage in front of many eager members of the press and gamers to reveal what the world would hold its breath for - A new Xbox generation. At first, you could feel the excitement in the room, it was electric, a new console that could out-perform the Xbox 360 in most ways. But, this story isn't a simple one, fraught with misunderstandings and frankly crazy ideas even before the reveal, it seemed as though Xbox was happy to throw caution to the wind, in doing so it lost huge credibility from its fan base, it lost sales to Sony's Playstation and it lost its way. But this is Xbox, this is a group of gamers that make consoles, this is a team that has delivered time and time again. If anyone could get this right it was them...right? Xbox One was potentially a fantastic idea; a powerful machine, and a largely confused audience baying for Xbox's golden blood, Twitter and Facebook lit up like a new year's fireworks show in London
Square Enix launches Final Fantasy X 25th anniversary site, revealing new Nomura art, books, music releases, and merchandise.
Look I know VIII has its issues and all that but how on earth can the do big anniversary events with new artwork and merchandise for VII, IX and X yet VIII got sweet f*** all.
They could have given it something during its 25th anniversary yet all it got was a single Happy Anniversary post on their social media.
they should know that we are OG fans of VIII as it sold truckload as well. not as much as VII or X. I personally didn't like IX but X and VI are my personal fav.
Shadow Hearts 2 covenant is another game I love. I hope one day someone can make remake, I would be delighted
Final Fantasy VIII is great and you are always the first to defend it in the comments
LucasArts gave Jango Fett his own game in 2002, and it pulled Star Wars into a much dirtier, rougher, and more interesting corner of the galaxy.
Dear team,
Xbox has always been different.
We started with a simple idea. Games should bring people together through shared experiences. That led to the first Xbox in 2001, Xbox Live in 2002, and new ways to connect, from friends lists and achievements to parties and play across devices. Today, Xbox reaches over 500 million players around the world, with some of the most important franchises in entertainment.
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If they go back to exclusive games it at least shows that they are finally getting it. They would be turning down immediate money for something that will potentially workout in the long term.
Only issue is they've already opened Pandora's box. A lot of their base has moved to PC or jumped to PS. So will be a long road to get back on track.
We have been saying this from day one exclusives are a must if you are going to be selling hardware look at Nintendo and Sony before Jim Ryan. That's the proven formula. You had some that were deluded and blinded by loyalty accepting that multiplat was the future and that MS was merely getting ahead of where the industry was headed, but at least they can finally see the light and agree with what everyone has been saying for a decade+
True, blame it on the rabid fanboys. MS can do no wrong and spinner this multiplatform move. While the actual fans moved on.
I feel like with the new Xbox coming they are hoping to bring back those old fans and then if it goes well. Bring back exclusives.
If the new console is performing like series x and one. Naw they staying multiplatform.
Actual fans dont move on... they can add to their hobby while waiting for the next new release. If you believe what you typed then I guess PS fans moved on too.... you know, since its been a Sahara for 1st party games this gen.
The fans didn’t tell them to go multilat. MS was forced to after the 82 billion they spent to destroy gaming. Then, while xbox fans cheered, MS realized they can’t justify the price tag by selling through xbox only, so they went multiplat and in the process began to downplay console gaming.
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I think it's too late, xbox sales were diving even before ABK, they got even worse since then even long before the full multiplatform push. I'd be surprised if they even went back to timed exclusivity at this point, Helix is basically a PC and is going to be expensive, they already struggle to sell cheaper xbox consoles, it will be low volume and they'll have a very small 'console' base to sell to, which has already been conditioned to just play via gamepass anyway.
They will do what they always do, they will promise the world at the beginning of next GEN and then failed to deliver all generation long. But there will always be some gamers who will buy into their promises.
Absolutely agree, Do people genuinely believe Microsoft are now going to go. Hang on how's about we go back to 2020. Then GP was stagnating, Games sold where awful because of GP. Outsold by Playstation by a landslide.
They have sold 5m of Forza I believe on PS5. Spite it being a old game. I think Starfield is going to sell well in the end. Halo is deffinetly going to sell well as is Fable and Forza Horizon 6.
I think at best (for Xbox fans). Single player titles like Clockwork will have a timed exclusivity. Multiplayer centric games like Forza, E Day will release day and date on all platforms.
Or all games will release on all platforms day and date. But maybe Xbox and Windows Store copies will have exclusive bonuses. Or may even get timed exclusive dlc like Fallout and Elder Scrolls and COD use to do.
I think they will treat Xbox players like the premium customers or at least act the way. But will serve just the Playstation and Switch 2 customers as well.
I don't see them removing PC from the equation. Considering MS has a heavy enough investment in the PC market, it would be foolish to abandon them. I could see them taking away games from PlayStation or ensuring they are timed exclusives at the very least. Say what you will but if Call of Duty ends up becoming a timed exclusive to Xbox machines, that would hurt PlayStation, don't pretend like those games don't sell millions.
They would lose out on a lot of CoD sales tho. Doesn't PS make up most of the sales?
@Outside - possibly, but it might push people to want Xbox hardware so they can play with their buddies day one.
Who knows.
it would but remember doing that can splinter the COD fan base and in the process damage the call of duty brand which is probably the only franchise in that $82 billion purchase that in anyway gets even close to delivering what Microsoft thought they bought. If Microsoft fudges around too much with the COD franchise, you might even see a competitor franchise show up on the scene and that would be a catastrophe after the huge debt that Microsoft put itself into with the ABK purchase.
But Its almost guaranteed that Microsoft will want to do something drastic at the beginning of the next generation as they always do. We will see.
Their lifeline of solely the Xbox consoles is dry. Good-Great games on a 1st party scale can't be made at a loss so willingly - sent to the Xbox to only sell limited copies.
They invested billions scooping up studios and need to start making returns.
Sucks that nearly every company is publicly traded and have to be so shareholder biased but that's how it is.
Their words are strong but it'll take time to see what their actions accomplish. Lowering the cost of Game Pass and taking CoD off of it was a good clear start.
More like, allot of their base just played game pass. So now they need to encourage them to start buying again.
What exactly is the long term goal with exclusives though?
Because for the most part, the hardware side of things has never been the most profitable, even sometimes being subsidized for a period before breaking even. And that’s before the hardware component nightmare we currently live in.
The whole point of exclusives was to get more people to buy your console in order to have a bigger install base, which meant even bigger software sales.
But if their ports to PS5 are selling (for the most part it seems) quite well, then other than negating the cut Sony takes there, unless you are REALLY increasing your software sales on your own console, it probably doesn’t make that much of a difference?
Honestly I don’t even understand Sony’s decision to scale back on it for PC unless they weren’t even recouping the port expenses. They released ports when the hardware sales never really dropped, and now that all consoles will undoubtedly take a noticeable drop in sales due to the ridiculous prices, that’s when they decide they don’t want to sell to a larger install base to more easily recoup dev costs… it’s just weird
I agree. I mean once they went multiplat, in theory there should be no going back especially when you have games that have sold really well on other platforms.
Microsoft are the ones that announced that they are reevaluating. So I'm just guessing on what their end goal is. Right now Xbox as a hardware is not a must buy for anyone but fans of the brand because their games can be played elsewhere. Going exclusive would solve this, but you lose out on a ton of money instantly which has always been what the company does not want to do so not really sure what their "reevaluating exclusives" means unless they are pulling a Phil Spencer and are just saying what people want to hear and will continue to do what they are currently doing.
Their ports to PS5 are selling because Sony's output has been so dry... the fans are thirsty, and MS is the oasis.
Microsoft still has a name with Xbox the issue is the casual games are not looking at the console because its not the same console their friends have. Look at that poll on how many users upgraded from xbox 365 to one and then the X. Part of Microsoft's downfall was thinking that the Wii was the market they had to be in when really it was the core market. If you get the core gamers you then get the market to. As I posted a few minuets ago on another post Microsoft putting exclusives on PS this gen could bold well if they hit next gen with all our games are staying exclusive from this new gen. They will then get gamers wanting Halo, Forza Gears but this is also where Microsoft fell over with the xbox one and X in terms of they did not have may quality 1st party games affter they fell into the Gears, Forza and Halo cycle. If they can get some old IPs back to bring back the old core gamers as well as fresh ips to bring in new gamers things could improve next gen. But as I said in my last post its all if buts and maybes at the moment. No one knows if the next home consoles will be to expensive that people move to pc as we are now seeing or look at the stem deck as a cheepier alternitive.
"Only issue is they've already opened Pandora's box."
That's very optimistic. It's not the only issue, far from it. There is a serious rupture between Microsoft generally and the public caused by their weird Game Pass price fluctuations, taking down physical game space in stores, and being the first to go nuts on hardware price hikes that they themselves played a big part in.
They're also charging beyond a premium for Helix which is just vile at a time when the economy is in shambles.
The company itself is really not doing itself any favors with the approach they're taking Windows. Even France is looking to ditch Windows in favor of Linux.
But the most offensive thing is this AI push. They're doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down on the very technology they're using to replace a considerable proportion of their workforce... And the slap in the face is how they bake copilot into everything when nobody likes it—they couldn't even make Bing stick, so why on earth are they trying so hard? You know it's bad when people would rather use ChatGPT than Copilot which is killing their OS. But aside from their snatching up of farmland to build data centers (and reduce the agriculture capacity of whichever country allows them to build them), they made an AI-generated gamer gurl that loves AI the head of Xbox.
Even if we grant them the full benefit of the doubt, it hardly matters what Xbox wants to do if Nadella says no, and that includes exclusive games. Microsoft's relationship with Xbox is the opposite of Sony's relationship with PlayStation—Microsoft pulls the reins of Xbox, but Sony damn near went under for the PS3.
“If they go back to exclusive games it at least shows that they are finally getting it.”
Great strategy, especially after Forza selling 5 million on PlayStation and sea of thieves selling at least another million (2 million) for example. In March 2026, Xbox consoles sales ratio vs PS was 10:1.
In addition to that, with Gamepass, which unequivocally cuts out chunks of sales (Cannibalizing revenue from 1st month sales especially).
I’m sure going exclusive again after releasing everything on Ps5 is going to work out great for business.
Despite all of that, it's clear that Microsoft's Xbox division is broken beyond repair.
PlayStation is currently draining money on flop after flop. It's Sony that needs to re-evaluate their strategy
Wonder how much money was lost on perfect dark, hellbalde 2, 300 million lost revenue
by putting cod on gamepass. The recent Jason schrier news that Xbox has cancelled dozens of projects, spent 70 billion just to see Xbox sales further collapse and gamepass see little growth.
The fact is this has been PlayStation's most profitable generation and they are making loads of money and selling plenty of consoles and games. While MS won't give you any sales figures or profit numbers for Xbox, says it all really.
It isnt. But I dont think they mean in 'games', rather, footprint.
They own the OS but as far as gaming is concerned, Steam dominate. I imagine the VAST majority of people who use the Xbox app/launcher are PC gamepass subs. No ones buying their 3rd party PC games through Xbox PC.
and many gamers prefer SteamOS for gaming over Windows too. If only Valve would be more uncompromising to the anti-cheat makers that locked out non-windows players, more pc gamers would have moved onto SteamOS by now and not looking back to Windows. overall, Win11 is a terrible, bloated, unoptimized OS which is not what many people want
Agreed and I think that's where they are going to focus on more. I think cheaper games on Windows/Xbox store (MS IP) compared to Steam and Epic and maybe even compared to PSN store as well.
They did turn things around for me personally. I was appalled buy them at lunch and bought a PS4 instead but these days I have an Xbox One along with the PS4 I think they fully changed in my eyes. I expect that a lot of haters dislikes the xbox but I got no beef at all with Xbox anymore and I'm looking forward to Scorpio
MS has completely turned things around. The X1 is my favorite console this gen. I am playing more exclusives on the X1 than my PS4, I buy all multiplats on it so they might as well be exclusive. BC is free, no hassle. I love the preview program and the monthly updates, apps, live tv, OS, UI. MS has worked harder than the other two this gen, and I am fine with X1 and looking forward to Scorpio.
When I wrote that article it was all about the cycle of Xbox and more importantly the wrong figure heads leading the brand. In a perfect world there wouldn't be exclusives and we as the consumer would win, of course that was proven in the article so I won't continue ;)
I'm an Xbox man, not because I hate PlayStation, in fact I respect them for their hardwork to keep their fans happy, I'm an Xbox man, simply because that's where my friends are and I invested a lot of hard work into my 125k gamerscore lol. People will hate and troll, it's all good. Let them crack on :)
Have a great Sunday people and thanks for reading.
Exactly what misunderstandings were being fraught during the reveal and launch period? As far as I can tell, people were pretty clear on MS plans, they just didn't like them.
This article says there was confusion, but the community wasn't confused, they were angry.
The only people confused was MS in thinking it was their messaging which was confusing, instead of realizing that their policies were not wanted.
This article says that people had questions, and they did, because MS didn't relay the information people wanted to know. And when they did, people didn't like the answers because their reasons were complete BS, but there was no confusion about them.
This article seems to try really hard to make it out like MS just had some problem with messaging, while also admitting that people's concerns were accurate in being "disturbing".
It's not hard to understand...even before the reveal. People were pissed at what MS was trying to deliver. No one was confused, and the questions weren't about the policies, rather the customer demanding that MS stop their BS PR rhetoric and listen to the consumers.
MS righted those wrongs, and they are doing better because of it, but this article candy coats what happened early on in a very big way. But to use the analogy that this article is trying to make, MS didn't go on some adventure full of angst, turmoil, and opposition only to achieve something great and come home satisfied as a much more content person who overcame all that. Instead, they were kicked in the balls and never made it out the door, only to have to take the bus until a new driver came to drive them part way to where they wanted to go. They still haven't come back again.