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jason1637 on 08 May 2021
shikamaru317 said:

All 4 2nd party AAA's multiplayer? Yikes. When is Microsoft going to get it through their heads that we need more AAA singleplayer games? Some multiplayer is fine, but Xbox's exclusive lineup does not have quite enough AAA singleplayer only games imo.

Multiplayer only or mainly multiplayer focused

  • Project Dragon
  • Project Typhoon
  • AAA 2nd party project #3
  • AAA 2nd party project #4
  • Everwild (most likely)
  • Zenimax Online new game #1
  • Zenimax Online new game #2
  • Bethesda Game Studios Austin new game
  • Sea of Thieves ongoing support
  • Grounded

Singleplayer and Multiplayer

  • Forza Horizon 5
  • Forza Motorsport reboot
  • Halo Infinite
  • Gears 6
  • Perfect Dark (rumored multiplayer mode or multiplayer integration)
  • State of Decay 3
  • Arkane Austin new IP (job listings for Online positions)
  • Possibly Wolfenstein 3 and/or Indiana Jones (job listings for Online positions)
  • Age of Empires 4
  • Next id Software game

Singleplayer Only

  • Starfield
  • TES 6
  • Fable
  • inXile AAA
  • inXile AA
  • Hellblade 2
  • Project Mara
  • Tango next game
  • Compulsion next game
  • The Outer Worlds 2
  • Avowed

I only count 8 AAA singleplayer games in development at Xbox right now, and that is if you count Hellblade 2 as AAA, which is questionable for some, due to the team size and reported game length they are aiming for (the devs call it AAA at least). They certainly have less singleplayer only games coming than Sony do, in spite of having alot more studios and teams.

I don’t see the issue here. This seems like a pretty distribution of multiplayer and single player.



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smroadkill15 on 08 May 2021
jason1637 said:
shikamaru317 said:

All 4 2nd party AAA's multiplayer? Yikes. When is Microsoft going to get it through their heads that we need more AAA singleplayer games? Some multiplayer is fine, but Xbox's exclusive lineup does not have quite enough AAA singleplayer only games imo.

Multiplayer only or mainly multiplayer focused

  • Project Dragon
  • Project Typhoon
  • AAA 2nd party project #3
  • AAA 2nd party project #4
  • Everwild (most likely)
  • Zenimax Online new game #1
  • Zenimax Online new game #2
  • Bethesda Game Studios Austin new game
  • Sea of Thieves ongoing support
  • Grounded

Singleplayer and Multiplayer

  • Forza Horizon 5
  • Forza Motorsport reboot
  • Halo Infinite
  • Gears 6
  • Perfect Dark (rumored multiplayer mode or multiplayer integration)
  • State of Decay 3
  • Arkane Austin new IP (job listings for Online positions)
  • Possibly Wolfenstein 3 and/or Indiana Jones (job listings for Online positions)
  • Age of Empires 4
  • Next id Software game

Singleplayer Only

  • Starfield
  • TES 6
  • Fable
  • inXile AAA
  • inXile AA
  • Hellblade 2
  • Project Mara
  • Tango next game
  • Compulsion next game
  • The Outer Worlds 2
  • Avowed

I only count 8 AAA singleplayer games in development at Xbox right now, and that is if you count Hellblade 2 as AAA, which is questionable for some, due to the team size and reported game length they are aiming for (the devs call it AAA at least). They certainly have less singleplayer only games coming than Sony do, in spite of having alot more studios and teams.

I don’t see the issue here. This seems like a pretty distribution of multiplayer and single player.

Same. Looks to have a good amount of variety to me. 



Angelus on 08 May 2021
jason1637 said:

I don’t see the issue here. This seems like a pretty distribution of multiplayer and single player.

And, moreover, if MS is being honest about giving their devs the creative freedom to work on the kind of games they really wanna make, then that's just as it should be. MS doesn't need to be trying to convince devs who wanna make singleplayer games to do MP instead, and vice versa. That's just dumb.



derpysquirtle64 on 08 May 2021
Ryuu96 said:
derpysquirtle64 said:

Crossed out the games that I suppose that are quite likely to have some form of multiplayer component. I wouldn't be so sure that they are single player only.

Eh, I really really doubt that Starfield or TES 6 will have a multiplayer component, I could have sworn Starfield is already confirmed to be single-player only anyway, I COULD see a "Starfield 76" releasing later but that's not really the same thing. Elder Scrolls won't have multiplayer, Bethesda already has enough on its plate and that's what Elder Scrolls Online is for.

Next ID Software title will definitely have multiplayer, will probably suck though.

Fable will have multiplayer, the originals had multiplayer, there will 100% be some sort of co-op experience, I have no doubt there, I imagine something like Forza Horizon has but for Fable.

InXile I'm honestly not sure about, Brian Fargo and InXile rarely have made multiplayer titles AFAIK, doesn't seem to be something they're very interested in, the Obsidian leaker on Era describes their AAA RPG as something very focused, I'm not sure if they'll toss multiplayer on-top of it, I'm leaning towards no for their AAA but maybe co-op stuff for their AA (if it's AA).

I also can't see Avowed having multiplayer at all, no indications, only rumours say it's basically Pillars of Eternity in Elder Scrolls form, we'll see but I'm leaning towards no there.

But I suppose like you said "some form of multiplayer component" could be anything, could be something as non-intrusive as Dark Souls multiplayer, or some co-op functions, stuff like that doesn't really botherme.

I don't know but something just tells me that Starfield and TES 6 are among those games that are the most likely to get some sort of multiplayer. Just a feeling. Who knows, maybe it will be SP only after all. It's just extremely uncommon for such big games to not have MP unless it's a SIE published game. 

id Software better stay away from MP no matter what they do next but unfortunately I think they still will. Which is a shame as Doom 2016 and Eternal has shown and it's simply a waste of time and resources because they can't come up with interesting ideas that will be interesting to at least anyone, thus making all these efforts go to waste.

P.S. Congrats on hitting 25k ports. Quite a milestone.

shikamaru317 said:
Ryuu96 said:

Lol, what are we talking about exactly when we say multiplayer? Cause Fable will 100% have some sort of co-op experience, do you mean that or...?

I guess co-op counts as multiplayer if it's online co-op, if it's just couch co-op I'd say it doesn't count. I haven't seen any online specific positions on the Fable team at Playground when I've looked at their jobs website (they separate their positions by project), and their Forza team does have online specific positions, so at the very least we can rule out a shared world for Fable like Forza Horizon has, but online drop-in, drop-out co-op could happen possibly. 

Of course I mean online co-op by MP. Couch co-op is such a rarity these days, unfortunately that it is out of question. I guess none of these games will have couch co op except Halo. Would like to be wrong here,



 

derpysquirtle64 on 08 May 2021
Ryuu96 said:
derpysquirtle64 said:

P.S. Congrats on hitting 25k ports. Quite a milestone.

I'm the most overworked developer in the industry 😥

Thank you I didn't even realise until you pointed it out.

Damn, typo



 

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EspadaGrim on 08 May 2021
shikamaru317 said:

All 4 2nd party AAA's multiplayer? Yikes. When is Microsoft going to get it through their heads that we need more AAA singleplayer games? Some multiplayer is fine, but Xbox's exclusive lineup does not have quite enough AAA singleplayer only games imo.

Multiplayer only or mainly multiplayer focused

  • Project Dragon
  • Project Typhoon
  • AAA 2nd party project #3
  • AAA 2nd party project #4
  • Everwild (most likely)
  • Zenimax Online new game #1
  • Zenimax Online new game #2
  • Bethesda Game Studios Austin new game
  • Sea of Thieves ongoing support
  • Grounded

Singleplayer and Multiplayer

  • Forza Horizon 5
  • Forza Motorsport reboot
  • Halo Infinite
  • Gears 6
  • Perfect Dark (rumored multiplayer mode or multiplayer integration)
  • State of Decay 3
  • Arkane Austin new IP (job listings for Online positions)
  • Possibly Wolfenstein 3 and/or Indiana Jones (job listings for Online positions)
  • Age of Empires 4
  • Next id Software game

Singleplayer Only

  • Starfield
  • TES 6
  • Fable
  • inXile AAA
  • inXile AA
  • Hellblade 2
  • Project Mara
  • Tango next game
  • Compulsion next game
  • The Outer Worlds 2
  • Avowed

I only count 8 AAA singleplayer games in development at Xbox right now, and that is if you count Hellblade 2 as AAA, which is questionable for some, due to the team size and reported game length they are aiming for (the devs call it AAA at least). They certainly have less singleplayer only games coming than Sony do, in spite of having alot more studios and teams.

Even though they are not console exclusive you I feel that you should still put Deathloop and Ghostwire on there since they are still 1st party games.

I don’t mind multiplayer in games It’s just disappointing that 4 of the 5 unannounced XGP games seem to be multiplayer focused, I would like to see them try to secure more AAA single player games.



AsGryffynn on 08 May 2021
Ryuu96 said:
AsGryffynn said:

This actually steps on a sore toe for me: I am banking on playing online MSFT games through Xcloud if certain games aren't in there. If there are, I would just groan and not bother with it. I get the whole "stream everything you own", but that should be separate and only use xCloud as an API. Like, those games aren't available per se on xCloud, but you can download and stream them normally. 

If not, then I can only hope MSFT does port to the actual EGS and I can play it without entering the Xbox ecosystem (except for the online multiplayer/matchmaking). 

I also hate when companies set terms: I give you my game, allow you to profit from it and even promote it so your platform gets more visibility. If I'd known you'd use force I wouldn't have come. 

Welp, there goes any hope of saving Xbox development for the stuff on my side. Every day ended up making it more tenuous and if this is true, non-freaking starter. 

Also, I'm officially on Epic's side firmly now: pry them open, all if you must. 

I'm a bit confused by what you're trying to say with your first point, how will you play Microsoft games through xCloud if they aren't on xCloud? The entire purpose of xCloud and Microsoft's goal with it is to enable you to be able to stream the titles that you own wherever you want, through xCloud. xCloud has nothing to do with matchmaking, that's Xbox Live.

Also, setting terms is like the most common thing in the industry, every company sets terms, including Epic Games Store, even in this leaflet we can see that Epic is not allowing partners to support xCloud "Amend our agreements to allow for xCloud"

It's not being forced into anything and the terms are very clear, this is also from Epic's perspective who are whiny as hell lately and trying to make everyone else seem like the bad guy so I wouldn't be surprised if it's even less of an issue than Epic is making it out to be, although, I don't think it's an issue, it's consumer friendly, there's no downside for the developers except double dipping potential is hurt a little.

Their first party offerings and whichever Indie devs decide to back it up, not those who are forced to. 

Let's just say if a dev I know was forced to comply, I'd have to abandon Xbox entirely and play offline only. I'm crossing my fingers this clause is not retroactive. Otherwise, I'm in trouble. 



Machiavellian on 08 May 2021
Ryuu96 said:
EspadaGrim said:

I hope that not every project that XGS greenlit is going to be multiplayer focused, wonder who is making Typhoon though Avalanche, Crytek, Sumo?

Leading theory seems to be Avalanche is Typhoon and IO Interactive is Dragon.

Jez did actually respond to a tweet a few weeks back that he thinks all 4 of the XGP IP he knows about are multiplayer focused, which is kind of disappointing but it is what it is, it's what IO Interactive and whoever want to make.

Plus he didn't know about Kojima which I would assume will be single-player focused and who knows what else he doesn't know about, plus XGS are working on a lot of single-player focused titles like Avowed, Hellblade, Fable (probably have co-op stuff but so did Fable 2-3), then you have the games which have both a strong single player and multiplayer like Halo, Gears, I think Perfect Dark will fit into that too.

I believe MS has enough single Player games coming out and its not like any of those rumored games will be seeing the light of day within the next year or so.  If anything they are so far out that we probably will not see anything from them until late next year or even 2023.  At that point there will be plenty of SP games on the system to keep everyone happy.



jason1637 on 08 May 2021
shikamaru317 said:
jason1637 said:

I don’t see the issue here. This seems like a pretty distribution of multiplayer and single player.

snip

I mean not every game is for everybody. With a Netflix like subscription service, it's important that MS has variety in their games to appeal to as many people as possible. Not every game MS publishes or launches will be your cup of tea and that's alright there will be something else that you will like, that's why they have over 20 studios now. 

Even from your list of games, there are a lot of games with multiplayer components that will have a significant single player focus; Halo Infinite, Gears 6, both Forzas, Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, and Wolfenstein. All these games will pretty much have the traditional single player experience and you won't need to engage in the multiplayer if you're not into it.



Machiavellian on 08 May 2021

I doubt that MS is ignoring single player games, if anything with the success of big hitters on the Sony side, MS is very much aware of having a strong SP component to GP is a selling point. There are a few games that Phil gave praise to Sony like God of War which shows he probably not only paying attention but also playing those games and viewing how them impact the success for Sony. Even so, diversity is the name of the game with GP so having both strong SP and MP spells success. AAA, AA and even smaller indie games filling out pretty much all the niche is where I believe Phil is looking to take GP. Oh well, only time will tell as it will be a few years from now before we see how everything fleshes out completely.