The_Wailing_Doom

Only 2:1? Xbox Series S saved Microsoft this generation. Considering the overwhelming majority of Xbox consoles sold are Series S, just imagine the spread between Series X and PS5. In any case, considering how much better PS5 Microsoft did a good job.

@Secryt
Don't be fooled, my friend. "Financially viable" and "profitable" are not the same thing. It's like when Fibbin' Phil said Game Pass was "sustainable." When you're a $3T company, just about anything is financially viable and sustainable. You'll keep hearing Phil say words other than "profitable" to give himself wiggle room and ambiguity without violating fiduciary obligations.

You'll see the truth soon. Game Pass is costing them so much money in lost game sales, which wipes out most of what they claim to make from Game Pass subscriptions. They have no choice but to expand to other platforms (beyond PC, which they already did and it wasn't enough).
Stay tuned.

@cburg I am fairly sure. Granted, I'm a financial analyst for a bank, not Microsoft, but I am certain they want/need to recoup the ~$80B they spent on acquisitions, especially since they overpaid for both ABK and Bethesda and are not getting ~$80 in assets from them (not that it would matter if they did get 100% of money added to their assets).

@Yozora146_
Your logic is sound, but I will also add that Game Pass itself isn't profitable even without factoring in losing game sales directly because of it. Additionally, the Bethesda purchase cost Microsoft more money than they ever made on Xbox. Now add the ABK acquisition that was 10x bigger and the need to greatly expand beyond Xbox becomes apparent.

Not only will it take 20 years or so for ABK to pay itself back, that will get worse because games that were previously not on Game Pass will be. For Microsoft, they are getting the same games they always were, so the only additional revenue they are getting is the extra 70% of a game sale they didn't get before while also incurring 100% of the cost for game development. It will take far beyond 20 years for Xbox to break even from buying ABK and Bethesda.

@Boxmonkey
They'll be Game Pass boxes.

Likely, what will happen is Xbox will be the Game Pass box. They will still keep making consoles and selling Xbox, Bethesda, and ABK games everywhere they can (which is the only way to make up for cratering game sales on Xbox). If you want Game Pass, buy an Xbox or use a PC because Nintendo and Sony are very unlikely to ever let that service cannibalize sales on their consoles, at least as long as Xbox consoles exist. If you can't be bothered with Game Pass, PlayStation will get all the games it used to get from ABK and Bethesda plus Xbox games like Halo and Gears of War. Make no mistake, Xbox console sales will dwindle even further and eventually they won't be able to justify making consoles, but they really backed themselves into a corner with Game Pass.

Welcome to the family, Arrowhead. Please give us more good stuff.

@Loamy @Ambassador_Kong
The game is objectively a masterpiece whether you love it or hate it, though.

My brother and I are waiting a week or two for launch issues to be ironed out then give this a shot.

Quadruple A? Where have I heard that before? Hmmm...

Microsoft lied to get their way? I am shocked!!! Who could have ever foreseen a company with a history of saying one thing and doing another would do just that after getting the acquisition approved by a Microsoft judge??

Hopefully, the ABK disaster can be unwound.

My brother and I will do our part!

Well-deserved success! I am interested in Granblue Fantasy Relink. I am not even looking at Persona 3 Reload until a couple of years from now when they release the gussied up version they claim they have no plans to release. The shenanigans with Persona 5 was enough of that for me.

I am certainly intrigued.

I was waiting for new game+ to start my second playthrough. Excellent!

@Intr1n5ic
I also have the same concerns. Their argument of bringing more games to more people was already hollow because they were buying companies that already made games for every platform that made financial sense for them to do so. Since regulators failed so miserably, you can rest assured they'll try the "mistreated underdog good guy" card again.

@Yinx
I would be surprised if Game Pass ever came to PlayStation because Sony would rather sell units.

Are we considering Bethesda and ABK games "Xbox games" for purposes of the poll? Try as they might, Microsoft will never get me to view Bethesda and ABK games that way.

On one hand, Xbox going third party makes sense given their nonsensical and reckless strategy over the past few years, but once they go third party, Xbox hardware will further drop off a cliff and, despite my belief Microsoft will state they will keep making Xboxes to give people a choice, there will quickly approach a time they cannot justify doing so anymore. That will leave PlayStation to compete with PC and Nintendo. I don't want to see complacent PlayStation again.

Prior to Microsoft going out of control with Xbox, I had a lot of respect for them because, as a PC and PlayStation gamer, I knew the better Xbox was, the better PlayStation would be. The overall industry would be better off. That was before Microsoft tried to use its immense capital to shift the business model of the industry with Game Pass and their acquisitions that are as massive as they are damaging to the industry, though.

Strange that Sony does not yet have their own fighting game. Either they need to build one from the ground up, or they need to finally marry Namco Bandai.

Two awesome State of Plays within a week of each other! Nice!

I am very excited for the game, but I replaying Remake as we speak. I am waiting for the full release of Rebirth. Final Fantasy and PlayStation. What a pair.

I am even more excited for this game. I expected more of the same as Remake, which would have been awesome already, but Rebirth looks like it is greatly exceeding my expectations.

Phil doesn't want to admit Game Pass isn't working out in its current form, so they have to put games on other platforms to generate the necessary unit sales. We already know, but it'll be nice to hear him say something truthful for once.

@MrMagic
It's not like you can trust anything he says, anyway. It's perhaps better this way.

Xbox decided they want to start selling some games, eh?

@Rayman123
It's hard to say as there are cultural differences, but maybe so. I'd like to think they would keep cultivating talent at smaller studios and then acquiring them as they have almost always done in the past with the exception of Bungie, but that reads as a knee-jerk reaction to Microsoft's $80B shopping spree.

Microsoft has to offset Game Pass's deleterious effect on game sales and expanding to other platforms accomplishes that. It also has the benefit of making Microsoft look like good guys when they inevitably try to buy another publisher since regulators gave them a free pass already.

I'm skipping this game. I didn't appreciate what Atlus did to fans with Persona 5. Voting with my wallet is all I can do as a responsible consumer .

Can't blame Bethesda for going where people buy games. They have to expand to the platform(s) Microsoft ripped them away from to offset Game Pass.

The friendly fire adds a lot of laughs to the game, but also a lot of annoyance. That is the part I am least looking forward to, honestly.

@colonelkilgore
People have unrealistic expectations thinking their $8 a month or whatever should net them brand new AAA games every month.

The final score is one point higher than I expected, honestly. Maybe after a year of polish and content, the game will make it to an 8/10.

IGN rated the game 5/10.

@Korra
I sort of agree with you, but who are we to say to the creators their story is done when they have more story to tell?

I'm looking forward to playing this with my brother.

I would possibly buy a portable PS4, but PS4 is on its way out, and that's overdue, so coasting on the dwindling number of PS4 releases is not a good idea. You do get an extensive catalog, but nothing new.

@Dragoon1994
Yeah, temporarily exclusive to PlayStation versus permanently exclusive to Xbox and owned by them. There are a lot of folks out there that can't tell the difference.

I can't blame Bethesda for wanting to actually sell some copies. This is good news for all who are interested.

You gotta love that Kojima and Sony partnership. Kojima definitely has all the funding and resources he needs to pump out his games.

@CharlieChooChoo
Indeed. Sony always made more sense and even more so now.

I wonder if there will be an upgrade path for Generations owners, particularly on PC.

Team Ninja makes a lot of great games. I like their partnership with PlayStation. Maybe it'll blossom into something more.

@BusyOlf
Is Wo Long not like the Nioh games?

This was the best State of Play yet and they didn't even include Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth because that will have its own dedicated show. Amazing.

I totally called this. Where are those who doubted me?! Show yourselves!!!!

I love everything about this State of Play. Well done.

Sony, quit partnering with Arrowhead, Team Ninja, and SHIFT UP and bring them in house. You have a long way to go to counter Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition, let alone the disastrous ABK acquisition.

Not a bad month. Foamstars launching into PS+ is a good thing for the game. I love Square-Enix and Sony's partnerships.

This game looks so good to me. I definitely am interested in playing it.

Nailed it here: "Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but this is Rocksteady's story, and they're entitled to tell it how they like."

I end up saying something similar when silly people complain about a casting choice they don't like in a movie or a creative choice they don't agree with. The only answer is, don't spend your money on it then and/or make your own.

This is great news. I'm a fan of remakes because it allows developers to (re)create their vision with modern technology and gamers to enjoy the game, some for the first time.

@Sifi
That's part of the reason I was completely surprised regulators failed so miserably at their jobs. The empty ten-year deals do not mean a thing, but the loss of Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda as competitors in the market will be felt long past ten years, especially in ABK's case.