Yeaaaaahhhh… no. Literally, Sony rose to dominance by paying through the nose to simply have the appearance of exclusivity. Paying for sole advertising rights. Exclusive DLC and exclusive content. Years of timed exclusivity. They fought for over a decade to make “Call of Duty” as synonymous with PlayStation as possible. And the day that Nintendo sends their IP to Microsoft or Sony is the day that Shigeru Miyamoto makes an AO title. At best, this is XBox trying to get a foot in the door for Game Pass. Realistically, this is XBox desperately needing to make a profit and make… Read more »
I don’t think Microsoft is struggling money wise the Xbox gaming division is pocket money to the company where Nintendo gaming is everything though they have no debt so they could based on analysts not release anything and if they cut staff down to the bone could run for years before running out of money. Sony needs PlayStation to succeed it forms a large part of Sony’s income stream for example in 2022 Gaming accounts for 25% of Sony’s income worldwide where Microsoft gaming in total across Xbox and PC accounts for 8% That is worrying cause lets say gaming… Read more »
I think it’s more Microsoft realising that modern consoles are similar enough to PCs that next to zero games are gonna be console exclusive from now on. And they already have a near monopoly on the PC market, so they’ve got no reason to try and fight for a share of a console market that’s already falling behind PC gaming.
I would not be remotely shocked if their next ‘console’ is much more like a steam deck than a playstation.
Exactly. Neither Xbox or Playstations are true ‘consoles’ these days. They are essentially PC’s with consistent hardware, and a custom OS and controllers.
Yeaaaaahhhh… no. https://www.tweaktown.com/news/96558/big-3-revenues-compared-playstation-made-30-billion-in-2023-xbox-18/index.html Also, remember that, for Microsoft, this was 8% of their total revenue. For Sony, this was 35%. Further, Sony’s profit margin is 6% Microsoft’s profit margin is 41% https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar23/index.html While it’s harder to figure the profit margin for Xbox as they fold the profits into overall profits, other financial publications seem to believe that Xbox is at a 20-25% profift margin. And, as I said 9 strips ago, Nintendo isn’t really in the “console war” but they’re doing their own thing. With a consistent profit margin of over 30%, Nintendo is doing well for itself. All of… Read more »
Microsoft is in no danger at all Xbox gaming sales and profits is pocket money to the company. In some ways Microsoft vs Sony is a repeat of Sony vs Sega in that When Sony released there PlayStation they could produce there own chips and the Playstation brand was pocket money to the company as back then Sony was much more a powerhouse. Sony is in that regard where Sega was back then except Sony has a successful gaming brand but cash wise it cannot hope to beat Microsoft as Microsoft can use profits from all there other sectors to… Read more »
Video game development as it is is apparently hellishly unprofitable at the rate they’re going so something is going to have to change, either in pricing or scope – probably both or we’re going to see the top of the industry contract violently, which many people suspect is already happening.
You’re right on a lot of points… except for that bit about “Xbox desperately needing to make a profit…”
Xbox has been profitable for years. And this year the gaming division became Microsoft’s third largest revenue-generating business (amusingly ahead of Windows).
Problem is on PC there’s that Gameguard anticheat that serves no actual purpose (it doesn’t stop cheating) and has kernel level access to your PC, which is bad in what potential ways it can screw over your computer. It’s also a pain in the butt to remove from your computer as well.
I’m a Playstation player, and the fact that Helldivers 2 isn’t on Xbox is baffling to me. I WANT Xbox players to be able to play it, it’s so unfair.
Mastacheata
7 months ago
Hey at least Sony regularly releases their exclusive titles on PC a couple of years later now. I could live with the exclusive period being shorter but I’m happy with that (They managed to bring Horizon FW over in under a year, but it took about 4 years between GoW releases for PS4 vs PC)
I honestly see no reason why they couldn’t do the same for the Xbox, it’s almost the same hardware anyway.
(They managed to bring Horizon FW over in under a year,) didnt know 2 years counts as under a year to you? it released feb 2022 and on pc last march
Filipe
7 months ago
I know PCs have shown before in the series iirc, but I wonder where they are now… Of course it is a “console wars” but PCs do get stuff from all sides, even Nintendo if you account for emulators.
Would PC be like the evil “World Government” that rules it all on this world?
PCs would be a bit challenging to portray here. They are Steam, but they are also Windows with close ties to XBox. Maybe PC to XBox would be like U.S. to Israel: uncomfortable allies… No…. There needs to be some way to re-introduce them that makes it funny. My best guess is a severe case of split-personalities, a platoon of soldiers that range from Hulk to little Peggy Sue from the candy shop, and everyone is preemptively taking cold medicine against viruses. Oh, and they should be covered in lights. Just a bunch of pointless blinking, multi-colored, spinning disks of… Read more »
I’ll happily inform you that PCs, beyond some preinstalled nonsense that you can’t fully eviscerate, have absolutely nothing to do with Xbox. Nothing requires or demands the use of anything Xbox-related. In fact, PCs are so unrelated to Xbox, I can’t even THINK of anything on my PC that’s Xbox-related.
Except that the majority of PCs – particularly gaming PCs – run Windows, made by Microsoft, who also makes Xbox. There are several Xbox apps for PC, including Xbox Game pass.
I don’t think you should account for emulators, since they are only using official releases. But PC really shouldn’t participate in the Console Wars. Showing them as tourists was okay, but that whole “PC Master Race” has some serious intolerant, almost totalitarian vibes, which is why I’m glad they aren’t really involved.
I would like to see the Steam Decks join the fray though. They should be a lot more threatening than the Stadias’ brief appearance previously.
When I was younguer I really though master race was about being a master at racing (non native english speaker here). Now, I feel veeery incomfortable with the whole “pc master race” thing, even if I think pc are betters.
Yeah, I also personally prefer PC, the last console I owned was a PS 3, bought the day they released and it broke down exactly 1 day after the warrenty ran out 2 years later, and repair would have cost almost as much as a new one. But it’s about having fun, let everyone enjoy it the way that fits them best and be glad for the awesome games we have access to. I am not insinuating all or even many PC gamers are like that, but there unfortunately are a few, and they are very vocal.
Hmmm. I think emulators could be represented by stolen proprietary tech/weaponry. Sometimes twitchier and prone to breakdowns, other times dramatically superior to the original versions.
Omni001
7 months ago
Funnily enough their obsession with console exclusivity is kinda screwing Sony over. Big AAA games don’t single handedly sell consoles as much anymore and exclusivity really hurts a big games ability to sell well.
Nintendo can get away with it more due to the Switch’s portability making it sell better just for that unique feature.
MarthKoopa
7 months ago
Sony won’t be sharing those Stellar Blades any time soon, sadly
Which is funny because from what I’ve seen Sony servers went down because some of those Xbox exclusives being released on Playstation 5. Those games are a lot more popular and getting even more copies sold. Looks to me like Sony may have to look into doing that as well if they want to make some profit. They’d save money on those 3rd party exclusivity deals and would sell more copies of the 1st party games they do have.
foof
7 months ago
Has anyone determined what the drop might contain? Assuming this is allegorical to something specific IRL; I understand it may not be.
24
Yeaaaaahhhh… no. Literally, Sony rose to dominance by paying through the nose to simply have the appearance of exclusivity. Paying for sole advertising rights. Exclusive DLC and exclusive content. Years of timed exclusivity. They fought for over a decade to make “Call of Duty” as synonymous with PlayStation as possible. And the day that Nintendo sends their IP to Microsoft or Sony is the day that Shigeru Miyamoto makes an AO title. At best, this is XBox trying to get a foot in the door for Game Pass. Realistically, this is XBox desperately needing to make a profit and make… Read more »
I don’t think Microsoft is struggling money wise the Xbox gaming division is pocket money to the company where Nintendo gaming is everything though they have no debt so they could based on analysts not release anything and if they cut staff down to the bone could run for years before running out of money. Sony needs PlayStation to succeed it forms a large part of Sony’s income stream for example in 2022 Gaming accounts for 25% of Sony’s income worldwide where Microsoft gaming in total across Xbox and PC accounts for 8% That is worrying cause lets say gaming… Read more »
I think it’s more Microsoft realising that modern consoles are similar enough to PCs that next to zero games are gonna be console exclusive from now on. And they already have a near monopoly on the PC market, so they’ve got no reason to try and fight for a share of a console market that’s already falling behind PC gaming.
I would not be remotely shocked if their next ‘console’ is much more like a steam deck than a playstation.
Exactly. Neither Xbox or Playstations are true ‘consoles’ these days. They are essentially PC’s with consistent hardware, and a custom OS and controllers.
Yeaaaaahhhh… no. https://www.tweaktown.com/news/96558/big-3-revenues-compared-playstation-made-30-billion-in-2023-xbox-18/index.html Also, remember that, for Microsoft, this was 8% of their total revenue. For Sony, this was 35%. Further, Sony’s profit margin is 6% Microsoft’s profit margin is 41% https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar23/index.html While it’s harder to figure the profit margin for Xbox as they fold the profits into overall profits, other financial publications seem to believe that Xbox is at a 20-25% profift margin. And, as I said 9 strips ago, Nintendo isn’t really in the “console war” but they’re doing their own thing. With a consistent profit margin of over 30%, Nintendo is doing well for itself. All of… Read more »
Microsoft is in no danger at all Xbox gaming sales and profits is pocket money to the company. In some ways Microsoft vs Sony is a repeat of Sony vs Sega in that When Sony released there PlayStation they could produce there own chips and the Playstation brand was pocket money to the company as back then Sony was much more a powerhouse. Sony is in that regard where Sega was back then except Sony has a successful gaming brand but cash wise it cannot hope to beat Microsoft as Microsoft can use profits from all there other sectors to… Read more »
Video game development as it is is apparently hellishly unprofitable at the rate they’re going so something is going to have to change, either in pricing or scope – probably both or we’re going to see the top of the industry contract violently, which many people suspect is already happening.
You’re right on a lot of points… except for that bit about “Xbox desperately needing to make a profit…”
Xbox has been profitable for years. And this year the gaming division became Microsoft’s third largest revenue-generating business (amusingly ahead of Windows).
Uhhhhh no
Microsoft has 227 billion dollars in revenue, Sony has 88.
A new strategy by the greens: kill the enemy to death by excessive lethal hilarity!
Did they just release the world’s deadliest joke ?
The world’s dad-liest joke, yes 🙂
See what you did there, take my upvote. (Anyone who didn’t get the reference, google it.)
I get GOW-2 is God of War, but what’s SM-2?
Spider-Man, probably. Last few, at least, have been PS only, iirc.
I’m thinking Spider-Man 2
“How about some of those Helldiver 2s? They look pretty sweet…”
(Bitter Xbox owner here, can you tell?)
If it’s an option for you, HD2 is best on the PC and the crossplay works fantastically.
Plays fine on PC, and there’s crossplay with PS.
Yeah, no. Not letting Gameguard touch my pc. Malwarebytes has articles on that one as far back as 2009.
Problem is on PC there’s that Gameguard anticheat that serves no actual purpose (it doesn’t stop cheating) and has kernel level access to your PC, which is bad in what potential ways it can screw over your computer. It’s also a pain in the butt to remove from your computer as well.
It’s so wild that Xbox, you know, the MICROSOFT company, is unable to secure rights to a COMPUTER game ported to their console lmao.
I will never fully understand the logistics of console bureaucracy.
I’m a Playstation player, and the fact that Helldivers 2 isn’t on Xbox is baffling to me. I WANT Xbox players to be able to play it, it’s so unfair.
Hey at least Sony regularly releases their exclusive titles on PC a couple of years later now. I could live with the exclusive period being shorter but I’m happy with that (They managed to bring Horizon FW over in under a year, but it took about 4 years between GoW releases for PS4 vs PC)
I honestly see no reason why they couldn’t do the same for the Xbox, it’s almost the same hardware anyway.
(They managed to bring Horizon FW over in under a year,) didnt know 2 years counts as under a year to you? it released feb 2022 and on pc last march
I know PCs have shown before in the series iirc, but I wonder where they are now… Of course it is a “console wars” but PCs do get stuff from all sides, even Nintendo if you account for emulators.
Would PC be like the evil “World Government” that rules it all on this world?
PCs would be a bit challenging to portray here. They are Steam, but they are also Windows with close ties to XBox. Maybe PC to XBox would be like U.S. to Israel: uncomfortable allies… No…. There needs to be some way to re-introduce them that makes it funny. My best guess is a severe case of split-personalities, a platoon of soldiers that range from Hulk to little Peggy Sue from the candy shop, and everyone is preemptively taking cold medicine against viruses. Oh, and they should be covered in lights. Just a bunch of pointless blinking, multi-colored, spinning disks of… Read more »
I’ll happily inform you that PCs, beyond some preinstalled nonsense that you can’t fully eviscerate, have absolutely nothing to do with Xbox. Nothing requires or demands the use of anything Xbox-related. In fact, PCs are so unrelated to Xbox, I can’t even THINK of anything on my PC that’s Xbox-related.
Except that the majority of PCs – particularly gaming PCs – run Windows, made by Microsoft, who also makes Xbox. There are several Xbox apps for PC, including Xbox Game pass.
heck, the xboxs are even running a modified windows nowadays, so they are definatly related in some ways
I hope you missed the /s on that comment, otherwise … poorly thought.
I don’t think you should account for emulators, since they are only using official releases. But PC really shouldn’t participate in the Console Wars. Showing them as tourists was okay, but that whole “PC Master Race” has some serious intolerant, almost totalitarian vibes, which is why I’m glad they aren’t really involved.
I would like to see the Steam Decks join the fray though. They should be a lot more threatening than the Stadias’ brief appearance previously.
When I was younguer I really though master race was about being a master at racing (non native english speaker here). Now, I feel veeery incomfortable with the whole “pc master race” thing, even if I think pc are betters.
Yeah, I also personally prefer PC, the last console I owned was a PS 3, bought the day they released and it broke down exactly 1 day after the warrenty ran out 2 years later, and repair would have cost almost as much as a new one. But it’s about having fun, let everyone enjoy it the way that fits them best and be glad for the awesome games we have access to. I am not insinuating all or even many PC gamers are like that, but there unfortunately are a few, and they are very vocal.
It’s just the excuse to not buy one more device. “We don’t want to buy it so it’s bad!”
It’s perfectly fine to use whatever you want.
Probably still Church of Steam vs the crazy EGS. I think sadly we’ll never see the Third Coming of the Freeman.
Don’t forget God’s Orthodox Group and their holy war against religious bondage.
Hmmm. I think emulators could be represented by stolen proprietary tech/weaponry. Sometimes twitchier and prone to breakdowns, other times dramatically superior to the original versions.
Funnily enough their obsession with console exclusivity is kinda screwing Sony over. Big AAA games don’t single handedly sell consoles as much anymore and exclusivity really hurts a big games ability to sell well.
Nintendo can get away with it more due to the Switch’s portability making it sell better just for that unique feature.
Sony won’t be sharing those Stellar Blades any time soon, sadly
Which is funny because from what I’ve seen Sony servers went down because some of those Xbox exclusives being released on Playstation 5. Those games are a lot more popular and getting even more copies sold. Looks to me like Sony may have to look into doing that as well if they want to make some profit. They’d save money on those 3rd party exclusivity deals and would sell more copies of the 1st party games they do have.
Has anyone determined what the drop might contain? Assuming this is allegorical to something specific IRL; I understand it may not be.
google says its hi-fi rush, grounded, pentiment and sea of thieves
uhhhh, didnt sony release a lot of their exclusives and made some sony fanboys cry about it?(fanboys and fans are different things btw)
To Steam and sometimes GOG, yes and always with spyware. But NEVER to Xbox.