Microsoft hints at its Xbox endgame

#1

Phil Spencer gave glimpses of a future for Xbox with short product cycles and a smartphone-like business model

Ever since Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft’s CEO, there’s been a cloud of speculation lingering over the company’s Xbox division. Nadella’s focus is strongly and unapologetically on a key set of Microsoft’s core strengths - enterprise software, cloud services and securing the market position of the Windows / Office product range - and Xbox, an entertainment hardware platform for consumers, seems at odds with a company increasingly focused on software and services for businesses. There have been rumours of talks with other industry giants aimed at selling or spinning off Xbox, though they ultimately came to naught, leaving Xbox as an unusual, out of place division within a pivoting Microsoft.

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#2

Shorter cycles… i don’t know. Don’t like that.

#3

Splintering the market doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. With shorter cycles they need to continue to support older hardware models, which limits them to having increased performance and possibly adding non-essential features. Nintendo hasn’t had huge success with the DSi or the New 3DS. It might be a decent way to extend the lifespan of a dying system, but personally I prefer buying hardware less often.

OTOH, if this means that we will see more former Xbox exclusives available on the PC then I’m all for it.

#4

For PC gamers this is good because it potentially eliminates Xbox exclusive.

For Xbox gamers, it is a mixed bag. Good and bad. I like the idea of increasing power through the generation, and admittedly as long as the console versions are similar hardware but just jumps in hardware it should be easier to target than PC.

For developers, it will just be added pain, not sure how MS will handle certification and all those things. Probably will be the same for Xbox as it is now, requiring quality checks (as much as they do that is). So ideally all games on Xbox would have to be tested to run on valid Xbox hardware, old or new. It would just allow better looking games going forward for newer versions of the Xbox.

Ultimately I think the big win is for PC gamers. Would be crazy to see Halo 5 or further games on PC.

#5

I think it would be better if it were limited to things like increased foliage, specular lighting, framerate, etc.

#6

That’s assuming the new ecosystem doesn’t carry the heritage of GFW, which is a big if to be honest.

#7

Games will be made for Xbox still, so if it automatically works on PC then that is only a positive. If people don’t want the games, then so be it. It is only more games to play that you wouldn’t normally have access to. If you don’t want them, then don’t buy them.

#8

Hmm, i suppose. I’m more interested in the benefit for content creators though, not really in the consumers, like, would developers who already develop games for both the xone and PC have to switch to the W10 store? Seems like in practice they would already have to develop a game for PC if they develop for xone in the first place, but that version would probably have to be W10 store exclusive right? Or at least i’d expect MS to move towards that.

#9

Keep in mind, that developer owns their content. So if they want to distribute a PC version on a non-MS store, then they can do so, just not with the universal app format MS is using for the Xbox and PC ports.

Essentially, they can still treat the Xbox and PC as separate platforms.

#10

All non-Microsoft games will be available on Steam, Origin, Uplay and/or GOG as well. The Windows 10 Store has next to no support from app developers and sales are very low. It reminds me of when they launched Halo 2 as a Windows Vista exclusive.

Minor hardware updates actually work well for Apple with their iPhone and iPad systems. There, it is possible to skip one hardware revision and you are still able to play all new releases. I doubt the same concept would be as smooth for the Xbox. Is there a market for a $500 XB1.1 that plays the exact same games at higher graphical fidelity or with a smoother frame rate?

#11

Sure it is the PS4 :laughing:

#12

If they could add faster memory and a minor GPU upgrade for $50, to get it up to the same level as a PS4, then I’m all for it. Unfortunately I think it will be difficult without completely changing the internal architecture.