Consoles
Since Xbox’s last significant first-party game, Phil Spencer admits that “it’s been too long”
Although the year has been rather quiet for first-party Xbox games, Microsoft’s head of gaming asserted that 2023 will be more busier for the platform owner.
By the end of 2022, Xbox Game Studios will have released five games, although only one of them, Obsidian’s Pentiment, will be a brand-new title created in-house.
The other games are Obsidian’s Grounded, a Forza 5 expansion, an Age of Empires re-release, and independently made As Dusk Falls (which has been in Game Preview for two years).
On the Same Brain videocast, Phil Spencer remarked, “One thing we’ve clearly heard loud and clear is it’s been too long since we’ve shipped what people would consider is a huge first-party game.
We might cite Covid and other reasons for our shortcomings, but in the end, I know that consumers utilize our platform because they want high-quality games.
Spencer continued by saying that Xbox’s 2023 lineup would be much stronger and that the production delays brought on by the pandemic that caused Starfield, the company’s original big holiday release, to be postponed until 2023, were now in the past.
We’ve talked about the upcoming games, and we’re enthused for 2023,” he remarked. “Those games are progressing successfully, and we have completed the production schedule changes made by Covid.
“And when you simply consider the launches, the industry as a whole has less games this Christmas season than we have in a while. God of War and Call of Duty are on the way, which is fantastic since Nintendo has had a tremendous year. But generally speaking, I think we’ve been a touch light.
But when I look ahead to 2023, I see a fantastic lineup of upcoming games that I’m looking forward to. It will be exciting to have our first authentic Xbox first-party titles from Bethesda, which will launch alongside Redfall and Starfield.
Spencer continued by saying that Xbox was “doing a lot more work” on PC and that it will soon release a significant update for the Xbox app.
This week, Spencer asserted that while subscriptions to Game Pass on consoles are “slowing down,” they had increased by a staggering 159% on computers.
He added at WSJ Tech Live, “I’ve seen growth slow down, partly because at some point you’ve touched everyone on console that wants to subscribe.”
Spencer asserted that Xbox Game Pass is “10-15% of (its) overall income” and that the service is lucrative for the business in the same interview.
Want more classic Metal Gear Solid remakes on PS5? You’ll need to speak Konami’s language—dollar bills—to express your desire.
“Regarding remakes of previous games in the series other than Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, we will listen to player demand and consider accordingly,” a Konami official told IGN.
Konami explained that “we chose Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater because it depicts the birth of Big Boss (Naked Snake), which is the starting point of the Metal Gear series.” Fans wishing it would last forever contributed.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, yes? Maybe you’ll buy another disc to show Konami you’ll pay again?
The Romanian Competition Council is investigating Sony for abusing its console gaming market dominance. How exactly? The RCC says Sony sells video games exclusively through the PlayStation Store and blocks competing distributors from accessing activation codes.
“These practices would have reduced the purchasing options for PlayStation-compatible video games, leading to higher prices for video games on this type of console,” the RCC’s press release (in Romanian) states on ResetEra. These practices discourage Romanian studios from making PlayStation-compatible games.
The RCC is serious, too, having inspected Sony’s European headquarters to find out what happened. The press release states that “1.3 million console video game users” and “127 video game development studios” would be affected by Sony’s anti-competitive practices.
We’re not lawyers, but we believe digital game codes can’t be bought from other retailers, preventing price competition. Sony allowed the practice until a few years ago, so it’s interesting that it’s back.
After the COVID-19 supply collapse, Sony CEO Jim Ryan is optimistic about PS5 sales. The Sony executive anticipates the PS5, the best-selling console for months, will sell 108 million units.
That’s difficult stuff considering Sony needs to sell 70 million more PS5s. Since supply has increased, consoles are selling like hotcakes in major countries, suggesting the firm is above 40 million.
Ryan stated in a recent games business briefing webcast and Q&A (thanks, TweakTown):
“The 70 million, I think, is the existing PlayStation 4 user base, and while we would hope to convert a large number of those people, we will definitely target and definitely be successful in bringing large numbers of gamers who did not own a PlayStation 4, and in many instances, who have never owned a PlayStation at all.”
Mr. Ryan’s numbers—should we focus on the 108 part?
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