Xbox gives new strategy clues for the future – 02/21/2024 – Tech

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Xbox continues to lag in the console wars. This is what the cold reality of data collected in July 2023 shows.

• Since its launch in 2020, the Xbox Series X/S has sold around 20 million units.
• In that same period, the PlayStation 5 sold 40 million units.
• The Switch, from its launch in 2017 until 2023, reached the mark of 30 million consoles sold in Japan alone — the estimate is 140 million worldwide.

There are many reasons for the difference. Less powerful hardware with a price similar to that of the PS5 may help explain the Series X/S’s distance from its main rival, as well as the smaller number of exclusive games.

On PS5, this list includes big names like “God of War: Ragnarök”, “Demon’s Souls” and “Spider-Man 2”. The main exclusive title for the Xbox, Starfield, was not unanimously criticized.

It was in this context that the company’s recent decisions to make launch exclusivity more flexible generated buzz in the industry.

An article on the website The Verge said that there was an internal discussion at Microsoft about releasing “Starfield” for the PS5 soon — the space exploration RPG is one of the biggest Xbox releases in recent years. “Indiana Jones” would be another one that could be on PS5 after a “short period” of exclusivity.

The news generated expectations that the company was about to drastically change its business model, completely abandoning the exclusivity strategy or even giving up competing in the hardware war.

One solution would be to focus on games and services — a path taken by the Japanese Sega, whose last console was the Dreamcast, from 1998.

Warm cloths

To calm things down, the head of Xbox and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, participated in a special edition of the Xbox Podcast, last Thursday, and gave an interview to The Verge. The CEO announced that four important games from the brand should arrive on PS5 and Switch, but did not say which ones — according to the specialized press, they should be “Pentiment”, “Hi-Fi Rush”, “Sea of ​​Thieves” and ” Grounded.”

Spencer confirmed that “Starfield” and “Indiana Jones” are not on the list. He talked about new hardware launches, which could be a way to soften the shock caused by this significant shift towards a future in which consoles are secondary to the Xbox business model.

To The Verge, Spencer summarized the meaning of the Xbox brand for Microsoft: “it’s our gaming platform and content business. It’s Microsoft’s number one content business.”

Game Pass Growth

Microsoft owns two of the biggest American studios today: Bethesda, responsible for “Starfield”, and Activision Blizzard, whose purchase was finalized in October last year. With these acquisitions, Game Pass gives access to entire franchises such as “Fallout” and “The Elder Scrolls”, from Bethesda, and should soon include Activision heavyweights, such as the best-selling “Call of Duty”.

Another announcement made by Spencer on Thursday was the first Activision Blizzard game to arrive on Game Pass: Diablo 4, the isometric RPG that was a critical success last year. The game should be available on the service from March 28th, and the news was well received by fans.

In short, Xbox’s moves are risky and innovative. They can encourage the industry as a whole to gradually make the classic model of exclusive games more flexible, and thus position Microsoft as a leader in the segment. It’s too early to say, but the path outlined by Spencer appears to have this future as its horizon.

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PLAY

game tip, new or old, for you to try

Witch’s House
(PRAÇA)

Taking advantage of the fact that RPG Maker spent the entire last week for free on Steam, I recommend one of the best games created with the tool: “The Witch’s House”, a horror game that was initially released in 2012, for free, and won a remake in 2018, available on Steam. The game offers little explanation as it puts the player in control of a young woman who explores a witch’s house, going up floor by floor, each one more terrifying than the last. “The Witch’s House” is a game as simple as it is impactful: the minimalist sound design and tense soundtrack create an atmosphere that much more complex games cannot reproduce, and the story is not what it seems.

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UPDATE

news, launches, business and what matters most

• Sony stated that the PlayStation 5 should not have major exclusive releases in 2024 and that the console has entered the “final half” of its life cycle. The company downgraded its PS5 sales forecast for Japanese fiscal year 2023, which ends in March. The expectation is that 21 million units will be sold, 4 million less than the initial estimate.
• Nintendo’s shares fell 6% this Monday (19) after specialized press reports speculated that the Switch’s successor should only be launched in 2025. Nintendo has not commented on the possible new console and increased the Switch’s sales forecast to the fiscal year by half a million units in an announcement on the 6th. The expectation is that the Switch, launched in 2017, will conclude the period from April 2023 to March 2024 with 15.5 million units sold.
• Still speaking of Sony, a PlayStation survey from PlayStation Plus shows that, to finish all the games available in the catalogue, it would take 26,482 hours, or three years of uninterrupted video game play. The same games would also weigh 9.6 TB, around 12 times the capacity of a PS5, and would cost a combined R$78,500. Subscribing to the service costs from R$34.90 per month.
• Registration began this Monday (19) for the PUBG Mobile Global Open (PMGO), the new “PUBG Mobile” competition organized by developer Tencent and which has its inaugural edition in Brazil. The country is competitive in the sport, with the Alpha7 team having won third place in 2021 and 2022. The competition starts in March and will have an in-person event in São Paulo in April. The winning team receives a prize of US$500,000, or approximately R$2.5 million.
• Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, defended on the 8th the price of the developer’s new game, “Skull and Bones”, which costs US$70, or a hefty R$249.90 in Brazil. For Guillemot, the value is justified because it is a “quadruple A” game, in reference to triple A games, considered the most complex and expensive in the industry. “Skull and Bones”, released last Friday, puts the player in command of a pirate ship in a cooperative open world. He was received by the American press with not very favorable reviews.
• Disney announced on the 7th an investment in Epic Games of US$ 1.5 billion, or around R$ 7.4 billion. According to the media giant’s statement, the two companies will work together on new games and an “entertainment universe” that will be related to “Fortnite”. Epic’s battle royale game features several Disney characters, such as heroes from Marvel and the Star Wars films and series.
• Arrowhead Studios, developer of Helldivers 2, apologized to players for server instabilities. The cooperative shooter game takes place in a science fiction setting and has reached more than 330 thousand consecutive players on Steam alone — it is also available for PS5. Reviews have been complimentary.
• A report from the GLHF website, which is part of Sports Illustrated, revealed that the ZA/UM studio may fire 24 people — 25% of the company — and that it canceled a project that would be an expansion of Disco Elysium. The RPG released in 2019 is an absolute critical success and won all four awards for which it was nominated at the 2019 Game Awards, including Best Narrative, Best Indie Game, and Best RPG.

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download

games that will be launched in the next few days and promotions that are worth it

Feb 20

• “The Lost Legends of Redwall: the Scout Anthology”: R$133.90 (PS4, PS5), no price available (PC)
• “Nightingale”: early access. No price available (PC)

21.feb

• “Last Epoch”: R$99.99 (PC)

22.feb

• “CorpoNation: The Sorting Process”: no price available (PC)
• “Pacific Drive”: R$149.50 (PS5), R$80.09 (PC)
• “Sons of the Forest”: R$88.99 (PC)

All Ubisoft games are on sale on Steam until February 28th. Highlights: “Anno 1880” for R$44.99, “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” for R$49.99, and “Far Cry 6” for R$62.49.