Eurogamer: PS5 and Xbox Series X Spec Leak.

[Mr Puggsly]

Pemalite said:

Mr Puggsly said:

In western countries, I imagine people having a gaming PC and a current gen consoles is somewhat common. Globally many PC gamers are not using consoles for various reasons. Either way, there is a larger audience MS can reach supporting PC than Xbox could ever alone.

Obviously you are only speaking in hypothetical's rather than asserting it as definitive?

Mr Puggsly said:

MS isn't just in the services business, they also rely on revenue generated by software sales. Hence, their sales can increase from PC support and they can push Gamepass there as well.

They don't receive a cut of the vast majority of software sales on PC, they do receive a cut from all sales on Xbox.

Mr Puggsly said:

Steam is still the king of digital gaming sales, but there are other stores selling popular games not found on Steam. Therefore PC gamers are becoming accustom to using programs beyond Steam. More people are now using the Microsoft Store because it has great games being added, but MS still adds some games to Steam to generate revenue.

Irrelevant. There have always been multiple stores on PC. The bulk of sales is still Steam and will continue to be Steam for the immediate future.

Microsoft has also historically tried to skip Steam in order to favour their own distribution store, Halo Wars 2 and Gears of War 4 being a prime example.
Titles like Age of Empires: Definitive edition also didn't get a Steam release until much much later... Mostly because people demanded it.

Microsoft never bothered to relist Fable 3 either once it ran out of digital copies to sell.

And then you have the issue of cross play, you can fire up Halo Wars DE on Steam and you will not be able to play with those from the Windows store... Considering that game has a non-existent multiplayer population, that's a big oversight, same thing happened with Gears.

Fact is the Windows store is garbage, it's a better attempt than Games for Windows Live, but it's not a store that PC gamers have resonated with... And I am glad Microsoft is embracing Steam again.

goopy20 said:

While MS made 2 lack luster Gears games with a 82 metacritic score that sold 20 times less of what Gears 3 did. 

I thought Gears 5 did well and was a return to form?

Mr Puggsly said:

That's exactly the point I am making. Many in the west simply opt for consoles because its a relatively cheap box that's easy to use. Console gamers aren't gonna buy more expensive PCs to play Xbox games. Meanwhile people who buy expensive PCs aren't necessarily interested in buying a Xbox under any circumstance. Millions apparently own Halo Reach on PC now, safe bet most of that is not Xbox owners.

Maybe Gamepass on PC also looks like a better deal if you live in a region where gaming, especially console gaming is expensive. They are bringing the service to a lot of countries Xbox simply isn't that relevant.

People say MS needs to reach out internationally with Xbox, but I don't think its realistic for various reasons. The easiest way to get more people playing their games and potentially trying Gamepass is put it on a popular platform internationally, PC.

Not all PC's are expensive.

PC Games are cheaper.


I think outside of Western Markets, Microsoft leveraging the PC is probably their best bet, because lets face it... They are never going to be taken seriously in places like Japan, so with you there.

Hypothetical? Not so much, we know PC gaming and console gaming is common in the west. In many countries consoles can be cost prohibitive so they opt for PC.

I wasn't suggesting MS gets money from all PC software sales, I was saying MS relies on revenue from sales of their games along with Gamepass subscriptions on PC. Certainly revenue has increased with the added PC support.

Not irrelevant, in the past Steam got almost every major game. Over the years that declined as more companies began making their own store fronts and even paying for games to stay off Steam.

MS has skipped Steam for numerous games at this point, but some have eventually been brought over. Again, I said Steam is still the king in that market but it also loses revenue from developers opting to sell their own content.

We already discussed Fable 3 in the past. I suggested the biggest reason you can't buy it anymore is GFW is dead and difficult to get working.

Windows Store is okay. Its better than GFW and more active. Its worth noting its also a popular store for playing mobile games on a Windows device. Many of the popular games in that store is not stuff you'll find on Steam.

Goopy makes a good point. Gears 5 only scored a 84, that means its trash.

I agree not all PCs are expensive. In fact, many of the most active PC games don't require great specs. If you want to play AAA games though the cheapest route with good results is often a console during a holiday price cut.

I agree PC games tend to be cheaper, also easier to steal. A big reason PC is popular in some regions.

Xbox would be taken seriously in Japan if it had many games they wanted exclusively. Playstation only thrives in Japan because of great 3rd party support, certainly not because Japan loves Sony games.