Did Microsoft make big a mistake?

[Hiku]

Chazore said:

I wouldn't think they are trying to respect our time, but I expect them to, under the notion "time is money". 

Like I get what you're trying to say, but I don't agree. I don't see there being more sense in Sony's strat than MS, which is why I see day and date a important to me, and going by data, it's working, it's not a minority thing, where absolutely everyone and their dog can wait (there definitely are some impatient folks out there, and others who will simply be put off the wait and go buy something else instead). 

I know the corps are not our friends, but I can still call them out on not acting more consumer friendly.

You'd be surprised about some fighting games coming out a year or two later on PC, especially when one in recent years was an EGS exclusive, and even when it hit Steam it still didn't feature rollback, and basically suffered for both of those issues. 

The bad ports part is definitely a case of not taking proper care for sure, and even when TLOU, a lauded IP on Sony's side comes out in the state it did, it kinda puts that spent time for PC to wait not kinda worth the wait in gold (and it also destroyed the cream of the crop image of releasing polished games, but I'd argue HZD did that when it was ported to PC, and then Days Gone). Like if you are wanting to delay another group getting the chance to buy your product on their plat of choice, you'd best make up the time with quality goods instead (or don't, charge the same price, if not higher and pray it isn't broken, like a bit of a cheapskate would do, so yeah, I'm going to call out that train of thought).

I did emphasize that people should do what feels right for them regarding delayed releases. So calling them out on that is fine.
It's just that I don't imagine these decisions have anything to do with the amount of respect they have for us.
They would all spit on my time for a nickel.

Which strategy makes more sense would depend on the company, as they are in different situations.

As Phil Spencer said the other day, Microsoft are not trying to outconsole Sony or Nintendo. At this point, there's no realistic scenario where they'd take a major chunk of the console marketshare any more. So they have less to lose from day and date releases of their games on other platforms, because they no longer aspire to sell as many consoles as possible, unlike Sony and Nintendo. (Because selling a game on your own platform gives you a higher % than selling it on Steam. And you can offer your own subscription services, etc.)
Nintendo are still avoiding putting their games on PC completely, and it's not because they have even less respect for players than Sony does. It's just what their board thinks will appease the shareholders more.

But it's totally fair to feel disappointed that you have to wait a long time to play a game.

With fighting games, since it's a relatively niche genre, cross-play is also very important as that increases the player pool dramatically. But that's still not always available day one. KOF 15 just had a cross play Beta last week, which is over a year after the game released. And Guilty Gear Strive added it two months ago. Which is close to 2 years after release.

As for bad PC ports, there's been a lot of that recently, even with games that released on all platforms simultaneously. So waiting to pick up even multiplats may be a better idea in some cases.

Last edited by Hiku - on 07 May 2023