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Forums - Gaming Discussion - What Microsoft should do to stay competitive.

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trunkswd on 12 February 2024
Pemalite said:

Gamepass only has relevancy on Xbox sadly.

It's never gained traction on PC as Steam has the market locked down.
Mobile iOS/Android/TV rely on streaming... Which just hasn't reached market saturation and is limited technically.
Sony and Nintendo aren't interested in it.

And that has resulted in Gamepass stalling out in signing up new subscribers.
https://gamerant.com/xbox-game-pass-growth-subscriber-count-2023-report/

Add on the fact that inflation is smashing the entire planet, some countries more than others... And people are looking to cut household costs... And one of the first things to go is subscriptions.
https://sifted.eu/articles/unsubscribe-subscriptions-recurring-revenue-brnd

Plus people are no longer stuck at home due to COVID restrictions which has helped people to make the decision to cut subscriptions.

*****

Ideally I think Microsoft is in a bit of a mess in regards to branding... The Xbox One was a failure, no exclusives and pushed TV, Kinect, inferior hardware at a higher price... And that was the generation to remain relevant so people get invested and wish to bring their libraries forward to the next generation.

Then you have the hardware itself... The Xbox Series X is a brilliant piece of hardware, but it's priced high.
The Series S is also brilliant hardware, it's priced low. - The unfortunate part about the Series S is the lack of an optical drive for backwards compatibility, Movies, TV shows, Music and physical games which has turned some gamers off.
Some of us have spent decades building extensive libraries.

Add on the fact the name is like an "extension" of the Xbox One... I.E. Xbox One S > Xbox Series S and Xbox One X > Xbox Series X, so the current generation consoles tend to be associated with the branding failure of the previous generation... Which is far from ideal, in my eyes it's no better than the WiiU branding.

Game packaging doesn't stand out either, you need to read the cover itself to ensure you got the correct version... Otherwise you may end up with Xbox One version on the Series X which will visually look last gen.


***********

For me Microsoft needs to fix it's branding, it's to late this generation... But next generation everything gets reset.

They also need to build an ecosystem, bring us a handheld, bring us a tablet, bring us a hybrid device using Series S equivalent hardware. (Which isn't hard these days.)
Nintendo and Sony enjoy their closed gardens and single devices, so be different, the software/OS on Xbox is extremely powerful and most importantly flexible which enables cross-device gaming rather effectively.

China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets are lucrative nations for the Xbox Series S low entry price point.... They need to roll that hardware out to more form factors to appeal to those markets more heavily.

Gabe Newell has in the past said he is willing for Microsoft to release Game Pass on Steam. That would help the service gain traction on PC. Though, it would probably be limited to first-party Xbox titles and/or Valve would want a decent cut of the revenue of Steam users that would use the service.

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/452705/valve-willing-to-add-xbox-game-pass-to-steam/



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTube. Follow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown | Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

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Azzanation on 12 February 2024
Leynos said:

Get a time machine, go back in time, and never hire Don or Phil. The only reason the Xbox brand even exists anymore is MS's money but the brand is cooked. It was a frog boiling for years. Now it's crispy.

All console makers have stuffed up majorly. Seems the industry is more forgiving to some and not others.

The sad part about all this is that Don was right. The XB1 is what we have now with the PS5 and Series consoles. It was just too early and tanked (Still more profitable than the OG Xbox and 360)



Azzanation on 12 February 2024
Chrkeller said:

Better software. The last MS game I bought was Infinite back in 2021. Meanwhile Sony has GoW, Horizon, spider man, etc. MS doesn't have quality software.

Thats a perference and subjective to the games you like. 



Azzanation on 12 February 2024
NobleTeam360 said:

I don't know a win-win situation where MS retains their current game pass userbase and pleases company heads at MS. If MS drops day one release from Game Pass, millions of people will unsub from the service, that's the biggest selling point of Game Pass. Even if it was a 6-month or 1-year delay.

I can't see any situation where they placate both sides. One side (likely the consumer side) will suffer some kind of negative consequence.

GamePass is more than just 1st party games. People sub to GP for the variety of games, not just Xbox games. Also keep inmind MS own over 20 studios, a 1st party title will release alot more frequently than 6 months. The service is still incredible value even without the latest 1st party games at launch.



Knitemare on 12 February 2024

If i could choose, I would rather have MS selling his Game Pass on NS and PS5 instead of having its own console. Like this, they dont need to invest in hardware (hellooo, its called Micro soft not Micro hard), lose time and money, and focus on selling its service which is way above the Nintendo and PlayStation. Win win for gamers, you dont need to buy so many consoles to play all the available games.
They should have notice at this point they cannot compete with PlayStation on hardware (from a sales viewpoint) and Nintendo on Software (im not a Nintendo fan but we all know they make extraordinary first party games), but MS can wipe the floor with both in the Services department (GamePass)



                          

"We all make choices, but in the end, our choices make us" - Andrew Ryan, Bioshock.

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Chrkeller on 12 February 2024
Azzanation said:
Chrkeller said:

Better software. The last MS game I bought was Infinite back in 2021. Meanwhile Sony has GoW, Horizon, spider man, etc. MS doesn't have quality software.

Thats a perference and subjective to the games you like. 

Is it?  When I google best xbox console exclusives...  the list is bare.  But I'm happy to be influenced. 

What does xbox have that you believe is better than spider, returnal, demon, ratchet, ff16, ff7 rebirth, sackboy, last part 1, gow and horizon?  

I'm genuinely asking, because I PC game and would happily pickup a MS game that isn't Halo.  I just can't think of any to purchase.

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 13 February 2024

Jumpin on 12 February 2024

Microsoft is too much of a soulless corporation—they’re about ROI and lack a culture of creativity beyond imitation and assimilation: “let’s buy them out so we can own their successful product” and “let’s copy that successful thing they do.”

I mean, looking at Microsoft's successes: MS Office. There are cheaper and free products out there that work better than MS Office, so why can MS get away with charging a ridiculous subscription of 70 USD year for MS Office and still win? Because the cheaper and free products are imitators of Office. But Microsoft can’t even learn from their own successes. They are blind to the fact that the Xbox (in this case) is the imitation brand. If they still had a creative soul, they could create hardware as fresh and original as the NES, a Gameboy, a PSX, a PS2 a DS, an iPhone, a Wii, or a Switch - but all they do is imitate or assimilate.

Otherwise, I’d say Microsoft needs to stop imitating Sony or Nintendo and make an original videogaming platform. But they’re effectively the Borg of the video game industry. Like the Borg, ROIs and lacking creativity. And even with overwhelming power and resources, Microsoft's Xbox tends to get bested by much smaller entities who have cultures of creativity.

Last edited by Jumpin - on 14 February 2024

I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

Azzanation on 13 February 2024
Chrkeller said:
Azzanation said:

Thats a perference and subjective to the games you like. 

Is it?  When I google best xbox console exclusives...  the list is bare.  But I'm happy to be influenced. 

What does xbox have that you believe is better than spider, returnal, demon, ratchet, ff16, ff7 rebirth, sackboy, last part 1, gow and horizon?  

I'm genuinely asking, because I PC game and would happily pickup a MS game that isn't Halo.  I just can't think of any to purchase.

Depends on what you like. Both companies make very different games. Example: If you like FPS, Racers, Multiplayer etc, then Xbox is an easy buy over PS.



Azzanation on 13 February 2024
Jumpin said:

Otherwise, I’d say Microsoft needs to stop imitating Sony or Nintendo and make an original videogaming platform. Too bad they’re the Borg, and even with overwhelming power they tend to get bested by much smaller entities who have cultures of creativity.

They did, it was called the XBOX ONE and GAMEPASS.



twintail on 13 February 2024

I feel MS is too invested in GP to drop day 1 for their games.

And while there is more to GP than day 1 MS games, I feel that this is the feature that people keep propping up as the definitive reason GP is the superior gaming subscription model available.

And so, I feel losing it is a massive blow to GP and I feel it'll have a massive negative effect. Just how many ppl who have currently been conditioned to getting these games day 1 are now going to buy said game day 1? I just don't see it being a big enough crowd.

Best I see is that that higher (or highest) subs get day 1 releases, and other subs have to wait.