Xbox acquires Bethesda

[Mr Puggsly]

mutantsushi said:

Mr Puggsly said:

Not sure that's entirely true. Windows Store activity is clearly growing with each notable release.
Also, if you want cheap access to new releases then you have to use Gamepass.

Right, that was the point I was aiming at, not that I am gushing about Microsoft Store as such.
Having alot more 1st party titles means MS can now give them at least timed exclusivity on own Store to drive traffic,
As well as Game Pass drawing people to their ecosystem. Epic Store is similar in that nobody really likes it as such,
they like the value it offers, between exclusive/early access content, good deals, and outright freebies as promotionals.
It's like there is 2 totally different conversations going on, one about marketshare and business, and the other about
defending personal consumer preference which is great but not market analysis which "VGChartz" purportedly is about.
I elsewhere am saying how I don't think all this will yield major swing in console share, but it clearly is bulking up
MS offering on PC in a way I think they will be more relevant than they have been so far with their PC game store.

As to the take counting Steam as part of MS' platform, I find that somewhat absurd as MS just isn't making profits there,
and they aren't even getting the deep consumer info analysis that controlling own platform yields. Those people would
already be using Windows generally (Linux/MacOS offering aside), and MS investing $8B in Zenimax isn't able to
derive additional profits/control from Steam gamers beyond what a mere 3rd party game dev/publisher would,
which is why Steam is not part of MS' platform, they don't derive platform owner benefits from it and lose big cut
to Valve's intermediary fee. That Steam is popular with consumers lets them keep fees high, but as with Epic Store
we see pubs/devs preferring other venue at least for early access/timed exclusivity to capture more profit share,
even if they are eventually willing to publish to Steam because that keeps total revenue higher down the line.

Incidentally, I see Sony following a similar path online/PC gaming store with Epic deal, and won't be surprised to see
revamped subscription offer, even if it isn't necessarily identical to Game Pass. Sony joining Epic is attractive to Epic
because it brings more AAA content just like MS/Zenimax deal, and Playstation Store itself would de facto add to
the weight of Epic Store if they become linked at some level. Direct profits is not the sole rationale here, but the
all encompassing consumer info mining, which is market data at deep level that helps guide the whole enterprise,
as well as potentially tying into other media formats (film, TV) or social media in general.

Those are some interesting thoughts you threw out, but I'm just saying Windows Store is more active than some are suggesting.