Microsoft CEO Says ActiBlizz Deal Helps Xbox Become 'A Good Publisher' On All Platforms

When are we getting the games on game pass already

The Xbox playground will be very interesting moving forward, will they continue with hardware or just go full publisher.

I wish they would state their full intentions for next generation hardware wise or not maybe the case.

The acquisitions over the last several years have made Xbox stronger, Game Pass much more appetising, and above all else, has showcased that MS is in this market for the long haul.

They've essentially bought up what Sony have used to maintain dominance in the third party exclusive space. That pretty much just leaves Square Enix, which MS are in bed with again and improving relations.

2023 onward, especially this year onward, is going to be robust, diverse, and plentiful. Very exciting times ahead indeed.

I think what this does is just muddy the waters all over again. If Xbox was to go 3rd party, then Xbox as a console is dead. There would be no reason left to own one and that would be gutting.

It would also essentially leave a one format industry as Nintendo will continue to hog the handheld arena. A one format industry would be a disaster.

Also you would need a brand change. You can’t have Xbox with no Xbox. It would just have to take on the Microsoft Gaming name full stop.

Having games multi format is of course great but if you take away exclusives, you kill creativity, competition and any kind of real identity.

Xbox going fully third party would be a tragedy for fans and all of gaming in the long terms.

When the CEO of Microsoft mentions the Xbox last you know where it stands in their eyes.

@LX_FENIX yes, i bought the series x thinking about the bright future of xbox consoles. now all i get from team xbox is buy a ps6 or pc next gen.

Forgive me if I’m missing something here, but to me that doesn’t sound as though he is saying anything other than he is pleased the ABK deal is done and restating what they’ve said about it all along. 🤷‍♂️

@LX_FENIX no it doesn't. This could be many things to be fair. With the FTC still fighting Microsoft over the deal it's understandable that the CEO would focus on being on Sony & Nintendo.

@Vyrn In terms of revenue though, the more Xbox makes, the more they can reinvest into Xbox, and Game Pass. So I do think that as both developer, publisher, and hardware - we will see plenty of strength moving forward. Bethesda wasn't really about moving the needle, but more about stopping other platforms from snapping up exclusives. I strongly believe MS are not through with acquisitions just yet, and will show a lot of teeth moving forward.

They've taken a lot from Sony's exclusivity plate. Bethesda and ABK was no small feat. Now that they're back in bed with SE, and bolstering a lot of support overseas, I think we're at a huge turning point for Xbox on the whole. 2023 was sensational. 2024 is already shaping up to be bloody strong, and that's not even mentioning ABK, E3 (era), game pass, and third party.

@OldGamer999 I can see Xbox still producing hardware. I'd look at Microsoft's Surface line as a possible future. A select few pieces of hardware which showcases the best of Xbox.

It also makes no sense for Microsoft to give up Xbox hardware from a business perspective as they'd loose the income from the Xbox store. The idea of going third party on PC, PlayStation & Nintendo is to add to what there already making. If laws change & Xbox could open a games store & have Game Pass on PlayStation & Nintendo then I could see no need for hardware. But until then I can't see it going anywhere soon.

@cragis0001 @OldGamer999 I agree, I think Microsoft will still produce Xbox hardware of some kind, but I think its main value will be Game Pass:

"You could buy all our first-party games on other consoles, or get ours and subscribe to Game Pass to get them all for one 'low' monthly price!"

And I think Microsoft will continue to focus on backwards compatibility so that your library can continue to go with you.

Another day another 3rd party story. We already knew they want to keep COD multiplat. There isn't anything noteworthy about his quote. If anything it should ease concerns about the Starfields remaining exclusive as the ABK titles achieve their goal of making serious money off ps/switch crowd.

There will always be a xbox console.

Dear Microsoft. You are getting trounced by Sony. Take care of your in house first instead of pandering to your competition.

@GamingFan4Lyf I agree Games Pass is key but until ultra fast broadband becomes readily available as I can't play on cloud as my Internet is awful so Xbox hardware is my place to be for many years to come.

@iplaygamesnstuff that won’t happen unless Microsoft can change social trends though which is near impossible to do. PlayStation is the trendy brand, the one kids ask for, the console a group of mates talk about getting, that’s hard to change. They nearly did it with the 360 and then we know what happened after that.

I’m not too worried about where Xbox is, I think they have a broader range of titles and genres to play that aren’t available on PlayStation. (Starfield, Hi Fi Rush etc). PlayStation to me is stale, all remasters and sequels with very little on the horizon.

And if Xbox do go multi platform one day, it’s one less console to buy 😂😋

@cragis0001 Did I say anything about Cloud-only? I don't foresee Microsoft going to an all Cloud solution until wireless data is fast enough to support it across broad range areas.

@GamingFan4Lyf I know you didn't mention cloud. But sounds like you didn't get my point either. Its one reason why Microsoft won't ditch Xbox hardware. As for people like me its the only option to get what I already pay for. I'm sure I'm not alone.

They kinda have to, because the next acquisition (and it WILL come) they'll be judged by how they've handled ABK.

@iplaygamesnstuff so "trounced by Sony" that sony's latest ratchet and clank game may have made a profit of -8 million
sony also had to inflat the ps5 sales by possibly 10m-13m according to the hacker leaks

what u fail to see is that both sony and xbox is getting "trounced" by nintendo

@cragis0001 Oooooh, right. Yeah, that went over my head.

@cragis0001
"Starlink Surpasses 2 Million Subscribers"
"SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet gains 750,000 subscribers in nine months"<-- this is without massive ads yet
amazon is about to release thr space internet aswell its about 400mbs last i heard which is double of what elon's offers

overtime they will increase speeds and the ones on earth will have no choice but to increase speeds or else lose everything to amazon and starlink

thr are many others from uk china russia and others
china is working on ones thats are 6g which is about "Up to 1 Tbps (1,000,000 Mbps)"

At this point Microsoft is a third party publisher that also happens to have a console on the market

@themightyant ive seen a video of a dude playing overwatch on a mountain in the middle of nowhere ["Gaming with Starlink on top of a MOUNTAIN | Vanlife Gaming"]
and another where the dude has a latency of 40-60 ["gaming on starlink | overwatch 2"]

people using starlink had better results than many people using on earth internet me included until they did a huge upgrade in my area

many people i know are also highly considering changing to starlink or other due to how overall good it is being about to use it almost anywhere on earth

let me remind you this is without future upgrades

@rizangle not denying in time that high speed will be available everywhere relatively cheap but until then I can't see Microsoft getting rid of hardware.

@ValkyriaProfile none of them do
you are brainwashed to be believe otherwise

@cragis0001 we humans are always against our progress and/or evolution
so i understand

@GamingFan4Lyf it's all good 👍 kinda thought you quickly replied.

@rizangle so true 😂😂

@themightyant i remember some time ago they stated the ms will be about 7ms i think in the not so long run amazons will be better

that why i stated "let me remind you this is without future upgrades"

" I had a look. Starlink wouldn't be great for Cloud gaming as Ping only gets as low as 25ms - 60ms"
-thats a lie i played google stadia with extremely low internet and about 100[minimum and if lucky]-350ms ping i was playing the beta of stadia which only allowed assassin creed odessy if i remember correctly and the latency was amazing the only problem was the game looked like a early 240p youtube video
all i had to do was get thru the minimum requirement thing and then lower my internet overall performance afterwards and it would not kick me

@ValkyriaProfile sony wants you to drive a car with thr controller knowing it has stick drift

u are brainwashed at this point

I do feel like MS is starting to come down on Xbox financially. I know MS has trillions, but at some point your gaming division has to start becoming profitable. Money from Game Pass is not going to cover funding for all these studios games, and you know there not making much off game sales because of GP. So I believe MS is probably putting some pressure on Xbox to start getting some of there titles out on other platforms to make more money off of pure game sales.

@themightyant
"I'd love you to be right though, but I guess I'll believe it when I see it."
i said the same before i could do art using AI now even chefs and baritas are gonna lose thr jobs because of the new ai robots shown at CES 2024

also proof that they will upgrade as i stated before is
"Significant improvements have been made to
@Starlink
latency (ping) & many more to come.

Target is <20ms.
11:42 PM · Jan 15, 2024"

i would ask people if tech is this good now how good will it be in 1 more year or 2 years or 5

@Ken_Kaniff
thr doing fine i think gamepass made about 2b in profit?
but as they stated in thr gamestack conference a few years ago they want like 4billion gamers and that the "future is not a box the future is smartphones" which i also disagree due to the advancements of brain computers

not even nintendo or sony together have 2billion so thr not to interested

they do wanna buy nintendo cause of metaverse reasons much like activion/blizzard which was for mobile and metaverse reasons but according to Satya Nadella he all about the metaverse

@themightyant
"If it is consistently around 7ms, or even 20ms, that would work. But consistency is key for Cloud gaming."

again "i played google stadia with extremely low internet and about 100[minimum and if lucky]-350ms ping i was playing the beta of stadia which only allowed assassin creed odessy if i remember correctly and the latency was amazing the only problem was the game looked like a early 240p youtube video"

spawnwave also talked about how good the latency was

google/stadia was also talking about later doing a tech in which the game predicts future inputs making the ms still the same but would make the game feel about 1ms or 0ms or close to it

google is coming back to gaming later btw mostly due to metaverse reasons i believe

It would be nice to see more Xbox games come over to PS5. I would would double dip with Starfield. Hopefully games like a hypothetical Spyro would come over also.
Sounds like just positive PR talk tho so idk!

@rizangle Sony never inflated PS5 sales. That would be impossible, the info is already out there. Xbox no longer disclose their sales yet we can still find out how many Xbox’s sold. Playstation 5 has sold over 50 million units, 56 i think?? That’s a fact.

@GamingFan4Lyf
I’m hoping they stay in the hardware market for indefinite.
Series x for example is a great form factor console and has good system features overall.
Also it all overs the best value overall for me.
For example cloud save for all that use your console when they log into their account.
As where the other two you have to actually be a member to get the cloud save feature.
That can be a pain if you have a family and expensive as well.

@themightyant
i was with centurylink i think my upload was about 1mbs if lucky my upload was 10mbs is suppose to be 25mbs my latency while playing overwatch on a great day is about 100-150 most days it was about 150-250ms

i wish i could test stadia today as proof

i think spawnwave also stated how amazing stadia was compared to others as proof

The problem is if xbox keep saying things like this about games on all devices and other consoles, then Xbox console sales will stay low.

But taking Xbox consoles out of this, they need to create amazing games that sell if you want to be a good publisher.
Take 2023, they wound not have sold many Redfall or Forza or even Starfield to say PS5 or Switch and those games won’t get the masses to buy game pass.
My point, whatever Xbox are selling you need to make amazing games that sell to make money. or gain more gamepass subscribers.

The only games that may have shifted a good few units in the last 3 years on other consoles would have been Forza Horizon 5 and probably HiFi rush.

@Bonjo wasnt thr info about them using vr sales as console sales in the leaked documents

this was most likely before the sales of the games were leaked along with early wolverine being playable on pc

@bertraar
hopfully ms does a FPS boost of spyro trilogy

@OldGamer999 I wholeheartedly agree with you that the Xbox ecosystem and the system itself actually offers a much friendly user experience compared to both Sony and Nintendo.

The feature set on Xbox was actually more robust than the PS5 and still is to this day.

The biggest problem is just mindset.

I have friends who only play the latest Madden, COD. At the beginning of the generation, I told them all about the stuff Xbox does better. They listen and react in a positive way towards Microsoft. Yet, at end of the day, they got PlayStation.

I don't know what Microsoft can even do at this point to break that when people and social media are all about the "the new PlayStation."

I have Series X, PS5, and Switch. I chose Xbox as my primary console because of the feature set and "out of box" capabilities and services. PS5 is an exclusives-only machine (as is my Switch).

@GamingFan4Lyf
Yes I multiplatform on series x.
Switch for those Nintendo exclusives.
PS5 not up to much for in 2023 and 2024 don’t look good for me so far.

What can Xbox do? Sell games on all those other consoles that have hundreds of millions in console sales. It probably is the only logical thing to do.

@OldGamer999 Well, yes. I meant in terms of pushing more consoles.

Microsoft is positioning itself away from the tradition console model and becoming a third-party publisher that also provides dedicated gaming hardware (kind of like how it develops Windows, but also provides laptops).

I don't really think anyone was asking for this but okay. I just want Microsoft to make more great games rather than trying to be a part of the great games everyone else makes.

@OldGamer999 This is a huge part of the issue. They are saying games will go multi format but that is alienating a lot of Xbox fans. Even some of the most ardent fans on social media are saying they will just move to PS if this is where Xbox heads.
What is needed is clarity but right now it looks like Phil Spencer isn’t in control of anything at Xbox and that’s for be of concern when he is undermined by his bosses.

@GamingFan4Lyf
I’m not totally sure where Xbox will end up.
A publisher definitely.
Hardware manufacturer, maybe.

I just wish they would just let us know their intensions, whatever they plan to do.

Anyway looking forward to the direct tomorrow and hope we see some top AAA to the top end Sony and Nintendo standard, because that’s what they are missing and no big AAA exclusives over the years at the Sony and Nintendo standard has put Xbox in this position today.

The switch 2 won’t fly off the shelves because of the console, it will be the games.

@BaldBelper78
Future Hardware wise they are starting to seem all over the place right now and also with games as well on other platforms.

The more you don’t give confidence in future hardware and what you are doing games publishing wise, the more people will turn their backs and go PS5 or Switch.
Which has happened all this new generation as the general public didn’t really want game pass.

@BaldBelper78
The thing no one trusts Microsoft with Xbox at the moment and there is no consumer confidence in what their future is.
So Xbox should release a statement of future intent:

Yes will release new hardware it will be the most powerful Xbox ever and between 2026 to 2028.

We will continue to put all Xbox studio games on game pass day one on all devices that have game pass.

We will continue to put a few specific games like COD and Minecraft etc on other consoles to purchase.

Of course if that is their intentions or it could read differently.

@rizangle i dunno, i never saw that. I’ve seen various sales figures from both PS an Series console an i think last i saw Playstation 5 had sold 56 mill.

@OldGamer999 You have hit the nail on the head. They need to do that or they will lose users. They need to state categorically the aims and plans.

@Bonjo
according to much of the info dump they are also count ps portable sales
ratchet and clank made a profit of -8million but that was maybe 2022 maybe they reached a profit of around 1-10m which is still pretty bad
they are losing about 35-50 percent of all profits on all marvel and xmen games so even if spiderman sold 20m they only made 10m and thats not even pure profit so might by around 8million of the sales is real profit
also how thr trying to move into subscription service much like gamepass instead of focus on consoles

many stated wow ratchet and clank did -8 million in sales them console sales really mean nothing in the end
regardless they are making another ratchet and clank game according to the hacker leak which is very surprising even tho thr losing money on the IP

@rizangle That was an old slide from the leaks if you Google it you'll find they found a more up-to-date slide from the leaks that had ratchet and clank rift apart at 2.7 million copies sold and $145 million profit, also it is the PlayStation portal they're counting as a console sale but they didn't try to hide it. Circana tweeted about it and it is being counted separately from the 50 million consoles sold.

@rizangle You're peddling misinformation lol.

It's interesting though.
Matt Priscatella from Circana tweeted today that Subscription numbers have flattened and subscription services across PC & Console only account for 10% of video game spending in the US.
The Idea that subscription gaming will become dominant is unsupported by the data.

It's starting to make more and more sense why Xbox will go 3rd party. It seems GamePass will never be as successful as they want it to be.

Of course MS will continue to make Xbox hardware. People tend to forget its not JUST the games. I see some saying if Xbox put all their games on competing platforms there's no need for Xbox.
Totally disagree. I'd still buy an Xbox to play on as I prefer the hardware. Imo the Series X looks great and the controller is way more comfortable to play with.
We still have a PS4 pro and that looks good too. I'd never buy a PS5 as I simply don't like the look of it.

@MrMagic
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - 2.72 million. -vgchartz

"RC Rift Apart (in 9 months)*** 2.72M*** $145M*** $81M (includes marketing)"

"Game earned only $73m in revenue while it costed a whopping (for this type of game) $81m to make."

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/18lums9/list_of_insomniac_games_budgets_and_roi_for_miles/

"You're peddling misinformation lol."

@rizangle So we were both wrong lol. I should have took my own advice, I just remembered the $145 million but it wasn't profit, but the game has made $73 million profit so far. That's a far cry from the -8million you claimed. Funny how you just ignore PlayStation plus as well, because this game was added and it generated revenue on there as well through subscription. 👍

@MrMagic
"I just remembered the $145 million but it wasn't profit, but the game has made $73 million profit so far. That's a far cry from the -8million you claimed."
-"Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Sold 2.2 Million Units, Incurred an $8 Million Loss"
"UPDATE: More recent data seems to have emerged from the leak, suggesting that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart had shipped over 2.7 million units as of February 2022 (with sell-through numbers standing at over 2.3 million units), and turned a profit."

"Funny how you just ignore PlayStation plus as well, because this game was added and it generated revenue on there as well through subscription."
-i wouldnt count that as idk the full data of it unless u have full info on it i would expect not much profit overall which is another reason i would not include it at least for now

That's a far cry from the -8million you claimed.<-- correct its also a "far cry" from what you had stated aswell "👍"

@rizangle https://www.eurogamer.net/heres-how-many-copies-some-of-sonys-biggest-first-party-games-have-sold

You should never trust VG charts lol. This slide puts Ratchet & Clank at 3.9 million copies sold also these sales do not include the PC copies sold.

i dont but i still use it at times

most likely it reached that much with sales i wouldnt really count those UNLESS you have profit info
based on the past info and current sales i would say its about breaking even or a bit higher which is not worthit for such a long running IP and the dev time plus the budget

"these sales do not include the PC copies sold." according to steamspy its about "200,000 .. 500,000" which is nothing special again for a game with such a high budget and long running IP ive seen new IPs with lesser budget sell much higher

overall seems like a downtrend based on the info i stated
this is not including the failure movie they made [Ratchet & Clank grossed $8.8 million in North America and $5.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $14.4 million, against a production budget of $20 million.]

id say giveup on the IP at least for now and try something else like the legend of dragoon ramake and do a ratchet original trilogy remaster/remake but that just me

I imagine consoles will be a thing of the past in the next 15-20 years, we have like 2 maybe 3 more gens and then it's just going to be an app on any screen, with controllers for us old folks optional. Also Xbox sharing their toys will benefit them with their next acquisition as they've said repeatedly they will be making more deals. Satya said under oath he doesn't like exclusives as well. So no they aren't going third party publisher route, they are making more hardware and positioning themselves for the eventuality when consoles don't exist, but it's not next week as some folks in the comments seem to think.

@GamingFan4Lyf yeah it seems PlayStation is the console to be for casuals. It seems to be causing them headaches though.

I know y'all love drama, but Spencer already said there will be a next iteration of Xbox hardware.
And Jason Ronald is still at Xbox, designing the next machine.
Play more and leave the company's decisions to the people that truly know how to do business.

Don't see why they need ABK to make themselves a better publisher for other platforms. Not like they were incapable of putting their games there beforehand.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the CEO's quotes about gaming. He said the bit about publishing on Sony and Nintendo right after talking about ABK where he is definitely still treading lightly about what he says. He also probably doesn't have that much knowledge about the game to game plans for Xbox because that is very much beneath him. I wouldn't read between the lines on this at all.

I am still of the belief that xbox is looking at its smaller "AA" size games as potential multi-platform games and nothing else. There will still be a plethora of games exclusive to xbox and PC.

@CharlieChooChoo it's because the games he is talking about are the ones they promised would come to other consoles during the ABK acquisition. No ABK, no games being published on other platforms. Now they have COD, so they will publish on other platforms