What Does Xbox Need To Do To Win Next-Gen?

► Watch the FULL video here: • DF Direct Weekly #155:...
► Support us on Patreon! bit.ly/3jEGjvx
► Digital Foundry KZbin: / digitalfoundry
► Digital Foundry Merch: store.digitalfoundry.net
► Digital Foundry at Eurogamer: eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry
► Follow on Twitter: / digitalfoundry

[@carlosh9476]

Better Games. There you go, answer is simple.

[@ContrastCopy]

Sony just laid off 900 people because their games were too expensive

[@विचित्रलड़का]

Consoles are dying. Xbox has 1 gen left. PS has 1 1/2.

[@garyr5866]

​@ContrastCopy And ms layed off 1900 employees a couple of months ago.

[@adds-kz3oc]

@@ContrastCopy And how many expensive Triple A games are trash compared to the many great AA and indie games that cost a fraction to make?

[@ContrastCopy]

@@garyr5866that number is just because Xbox had a big acquisition and they needed to cut some fat.

[@chalpua8802]

Better games despite what Phill says.

[@Sand_1995]

Better games don't sell without marketing. Sony can release turd after turd and have them sell like hot cakes because of viral marketing and buying if game "journalists" like ign and kotaku. MS simply doesn't market their games nor their services. Lots of People online still don't know there's a Windows 11 nor the fact that MS owns Chat GPT. That's how bad their marketing is.

[@chalpua8802]

@@Sand_1995 Marketing definitely hurts but I mean, good games are still good games. Most of Sony's games are very good to excellent. Might not be everyone's type of game but they are very cinematic at least. Starfield was pretty average and felt a bit soulless at times, though I quite like it. However, they just are not willing to take risks and create something great at this point. Theyd rather buy up existing 3rd party studios and make them exlcuisve to where Gamepass is.

[@Sand_1995]

@@chalpua8802 On the contrary they are taking too many risks instead of being formulaic like Sony, Ubisoft or EA. They are spending too much money on experimental games like Redfall, Starfield, Indiana, Awoved, Hellblade 2 when they need to be releasing sequels and remasters to Halo, Gears and Fallout. Gamers are suckers to remasters and sequels.

[@G360LIVE]

@@Sand_1995 "They are spending too much money on experimental games like Redfall, Starfield, Indiana, Awoved, Hellblade 2..." You haven't played many games if you think those games are experimental.🤣 Also, Microsoft released Halo Infinite, and no one really cares about that one. But gamers are suckers to sequels, right?🤣

[@Sand_1995]

@@G360LIVE that was sarcasm.

[@_TheElMan]

Sony and Nintendo to quit

[@TheeSpringwoodSlasher]

Well...shit. Straight shooter ain't you? 😂

[@DarkStryder360]

Xbox 360 beat PS3 though

[@tomohawkcloud]

@@DarkStryder360that was 2 generations ago

[@MurphyOCP-001]

@@DarkStryder360 PS3 ended up selling more than the 360

[@Radek494]

PS3 outsold Xbox 360 in January of 2013 and Wii outsold them both by +15 millions@@DarkStryder360

[@iOnRX9]

a competitive base console…a strong first party showing …unique games

[@Jaxv3r]

They just need an identity at this point first person shooters probably, as much I meme on Sony making games that feel like movies they have an identity, same with Nintendo they make fun single player games and co-op games. Xbox or Microsoft on the other hand just throw shit on the wall and see what sticks.

[@iamthegamepro]

Microsoft has to use their wallet and do whay sony does. Moneyhat

[@gene081976]

MS Hardware is decent. They need to give reasons for consumers to buy their console or join their gaming ecosystem. They can have the most powerful console and no games and no one will be interested to join their platform. So, it all comes down to compelling value, and in the gaming industry, means great games that players can only play on XBOX. Going 3rd party makes no sense, since no one is really interested in their studio’s games enough to make sense. If their studios makes compelling games that Sony and Nintendo gamers like, they would have bought an XBOX to play it. Since they don’t even have enough great games, I don’t see how going 3rd party will save them. This is in contrast to Nintendo who has great 1st party games and weakest hardware spec-wise. Gamers would love Nintendo to go third party because they want Nintendo games. XBOX doesn’t have these caliber games. - hence that is MS XBOX biggest issues. Lack of great games that no one has played before it was released and couldn’t be experienced anywhere else but on XBOX. Have a few games like this, and they will get gamers into their platform. To entice 3rd party preference of XBOX, they should port Office 365 to XBOX, and include it to XBOX Live/GamePass without increasing the price further. Imagine games + Office 365 + 5TB one drive and optimize for XBOX consoles (they can use on Windows Desktop too). Now XBOx because a gaming and home education console. Instead of having just one console per family, this could be 1 console per child. Even XBOX Series S would sell a lot as an educational system.

[@DraftLogic]

​@@gene081976Heavily agreed. MS is focused on synchronization which is cool and all, but without exclusives, I'd rather stick with Steam between my PC and Steam deck. Gamepass is another selling point , but personally it's not a good enough pull to take me away from Steam for most of my library. As long Sony and Nintendo make good first part exclusives, I'll probably purchase their system and games.

[@De1usionsofGrandeur]

They been doing that all gen

[@joshjmilli]

The solution is simple: make good exclusive games again. The 360 did well for that sole reason. The Halo 3 hype was gargantuan, Gears of War was a new concept that everyone loved, Forza was getting popular. We need massive innovative Microsoft games again.

[@destinsather9757]

According to their CEO “making great games isn’t enough”

[@EvilMammal]

wouldn't say the sole reason - the ps3 launch was a total mess, and the marketing from Sony was horrific... and considering the base xbox was $200 cheaper than the base ps3...yeah.

[@ismo9529]

​@@destinsather9757 it's true, at best people would buy a pc to play xbox games. As a console the series x is amazing, one of the best consoles they made, personally I prefer it over the ps5, but I didn't see the narrative change or people considering an Xbox more, unlike in the past, you have a whole digital library you want to take with you to the next generation. And let's not talk about journalists spreading doubt about every game wether its going to come to Ps instead of the narrative they push when Sony releases an exclusive, just buy the console if you want to play the game.

[@joshjmilli]

@@EvilMammal and yet it eventually caught up to the 360 in sales, because it eventually got great games. It’s proof of concept. Although I will agree that the price of the 360 and things like Xbox Live really did give them an advantage. But I’d still say if they didn’t have any good exclusives they wouldn’t had done nearly as well. I bought a Xbox for Halo, so I guess I’m a living testimony to that.

[@DP12321]

​@@joshjmilliPS3 just didn't get great games, but 360 went all in on Kinect and abandoned their core audience.

[@badtothebone93]

"Xbox is not suddenly going to be successful just because we make great games." Phil Spencer

[@Noliving]

He is not wrong, Gamecube and the Dreamcast had a lot of great first party games but they were not successful consoles.

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

He's right. Even if Hellblade 2 is awesome and gets a 10/10 rating there will be haters. Plus one game won't appeal to everyone. It also doesn't make Playstation games bad. They would both have great games. So it will take consistent releases and even then enough of them to bring people in. It doesn't mean these gamers will then leave the Playstation or Nintendo. They will aim to own all of them. I own both the Series X and PS5. Will have to see what Nintendo brings with their new console.

[@Alien_isolationist]

​The difference is Xbox, 3 & a half years in, has 2 space games, 2 racing games, & Redfall....& that's it....

[@leoni7649]

Such a loser

[@jimmyv3170]

Phil is like the worst salesman I have ever seen. At least with Don Matrick he was just going along with Microsoft's vision of having a multi media device that does everything in the living room that they were already trying to do since putting Windows on the OG Xbox prototype. Phil has spent 10 years of gaslighting people into believing he is "one of them" and slinging shet across the room and seeing what sticks. ReCore, Quantum Break, Crackdown 3, Halo 5 and that all fails try to find the next thing. Gamepass, Cloud Gaming while ignoring leading and managing the trainwreck Xbox's future upcoming games will become.

[@blackwoodd]

The Nintendo switch is a 720p console yet it's the third most sold console of all time, games matter, specs dont

[@AzaiaMonota]

That and Nintendo has their release schedule down perfectly there is a new Nintendo published game almost every single month where as with Xbox all we have seen in the last 5 months is ports and DLC

[@balaam_7087]

@@AzaiaMonotadon’t forget to mention Nintendo’s 1st party stuff is almost always *quality*

[@brainwashedburgerworshipper]

Yes. Nintendo is great at releasing fast but freaking Xbox. Maybe hurry the studios up.

[@izaac7777]

For a handheld is pretty sad. If anything it should have eclipsed the PS2 lifetime sales a long time ago by now. The market is saturated. There’s no growth in the console business. PC is the future growth of gaming.

[@rewpertcone8243]

​@izaac7777 how is being the 3rd most sold video game device sad, it sold way more than the Gameboy, a staple of 90's culture

[@TQuill25]

100% agree with the Series X/S feeling like “More Xbox One” because of the same OS. Need that new console OS flair, or it feels like a scaled up last gen machine.

[@Buttface1981]

PS OS is still basically the same cross bar as it has been since PS3 yet it's not holding the PS back. I think the general public just need to stop being blind PS fanboys

[@vonbleak101]

MS cant just rely on hardware - It needs amazing exclusive games - simple...

[@vonbleak101]

@@XAV-117Fingers crossed :)

[@blackmask494]

​@@XAV-117😂

[@gkey06]

@@XAV-117 "best exclusives we've seen in a while" is laughable. I'm sure you mean "best exclusives xbox has seen in a while" because none of those exclusives releasing from xbox this year are in the ballpark of Last of us, spiderman, God of war, uncharted type of quality and gameplay. Dont count your cards so early like you did with Starfield, Forza Motorsport and Redfall. you seen how those played out

[@Alien_isolationist]

T​hey don't though. 2 space games, 2 racing games, & Redfall is the extent of the Xbox library. I always hear people tout last gen games from 2019 lol

[@jamesplitter14]

yeah the exclusives on xbox are complete ass and the gamepass has a bunch of lame indie and old games, i regret buying a series X.

[@ThatVEEGuy]

They lost all hope , when Phil said they don't need to make good games because good games don't matter, or something like that it's over all that matters is the games seriously

[@Shadowman820]

When did he say that ? I really doubt he ever said anything like that .

[@spinksy173]

A miracle at this point

[@De1usionsofGrandeur]

Xbox already beatsplaystation easily in multiple ways

[@spinksy173]

@@De1usionsofGrandeur is that why playstation is outselling Xbox 3 to 1 👀🙃

[@De1usionsofGrandeur]

@@spinksy173 it was confirmed not to be 3 to 1... sales never proved somthing was better just that people bought it.... like the original xbox kinect actually broke Guinness world sales records... and it didnt magically become this fantastic product due to selling

[@Andre-yy3en]

​@@De1usionsofGrandeur in what ways?

[@De1usionsofGrandeur]

@@Andre-yy3en hardware, services, backwards compatibility, consumer friendliness, customer service, features, etc

[@willianjohnam]

Release good games like in the Xbox 360 era.

[@xBonafidexProdigy]

360 was alright but tbh the original Xbox had the best exclusive titles

[@G360LIVE]

@@xBonafidexProdigy I loved my OG Xbox, but Xbox 360 got Gears of War, Halo 3, and Mass Effect within the span of one year.

[@balaam_7087]

@@xBonafidexProdigyI was going to post something similar. 360 wasn’t bad, but something got lost between that unique og Xbox flavor and the more mass market 360 content.

[@KillingSpree193]

Nothing comes close to the GOAT, Halo 2 on OG Xbox.@@G360LIVE

[@realmrpger4432]

@@G360LIVE Kinda crazy that those were all shooters. No wonder that became Xbox's reputation!

[@bigbro890]

The success of a console is directly linked to how good the exclusives are. Microsoft is finding out the hard way with this "play everywhere" experiment.

[@_MisterC]

If suddenly everyone who works for PlayStation and Nintendo have a heart attack, I think it's possible for Xbox to win.

[@LeeBadBoyBonner]

One of the problems is the better backwards compatibility is, the less likely to jump ship to a different vendor.

[@defeqel6537]

Yup. XBox had their opportunity with 8th gen when PS4 broke compatibility, but they just had to mess with the always-online nonsense, and excessive TV focus in marketing. Now the hill is a much steeper climb, and XBox doesn't really even have anything unique to them. Then again, Sony is somewhat diluting their appeal with the PC support too.

[@jonstewart7234]

Losers focus on winners. Winners focus on winning.

[@G360LIVE]

A winner is just a loser who wins.😉

[@SICK_O]

A loser is just a winner who loses? 🤔

[@Mcnooblet]

@@SICK_O Everyone wins, everyone loses. But like with sales, sometimes the difference between 6% success and 10% success is the difference between a poor salesman vs a great one. While in reality, success with only 1 out of 10 seems pretty awful anyways. Same thing with winning, a 10% rate could equal a winner in public perception vs the 6%.

[@BlueBARv5]

Imo its to late for Xbox to come back..They let Halo Die, They are horrible at communicating now all we get is a big corporation statements that says alot without saying anything important, Phil lost alot of credibility when he said "Great games dont matter anymore"

[@maniac4658]

And to top it all off there is the online only DRM

[@dusermiginte4647]

They let Halo die? Halo infinite have more players than all gows together...

[@BlueBARv5]

@@dusermiginte4647 ....🤣 yea if you grew up when Halo was Great you would understand more.. 343 already pulled the plug on infinite even tho they said it would be supported for 10yrs last month they said no more BP or major updates moving fwd..

[@f2o.f2o]

People thought Nintendo died before Switch release too

[@nickxcore74]

@@f2o.f2oThing is, Xbox has been poor over the past two generations Nintendo hasn’t.

[@VaultBoy69]

Two simple things: great exclusives and a lot of marketing. Apparently they’re going in the opposite direction.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Games are too expensive to keep on one platform though.

[@VaultBoy69]

@@fcukugimmeausernameXbox, PC and Cloud are more than enough. Not having exclusives is much more expensive because it kills the console.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

​@@VaultBoy69Even PlayStation can't sustain the exclusives model now.

[@VaultBoy69]

@@fcukugimmeausername PlayStation games are still console exclusives, they’ll never come to other consoles.

[@ContrastCopy]

@@VaultBoy69well, who actually plays on cloud

[@marklarz4399]

Turn it into a "Steam Machine"

[@Sand_1995]

You already have that in PC and steam deck

[@huawafabe]

i would buy that. I have a PC but i want to game on the sofa on the TV. Barely anyone takes their PC from the desk to the living room.

[@lirfrank]

You mean the failed predecessor of the SteamDeck?

[@gtylerbrown2]

​@dreadlord2704san xbox has the resources to sell them at a lower cost and make it run windows from jump

[@gerardopellegrini2698]

​@@huawafabesteamdeck or Asus rog ally

[@MrChowyunfatt]

a miracle?

[@that_colin_guy]

Even as much as a Xbox fan as I am, I fear that at this point you're right - a miracle is needed.

[@OneLastScholar]

They just to find their own Switch. In 2017 Nintendo released a weaker, pricey console with ZERO backward compatibility that still outsold everyone else, despite a weak antecessor.

[@OneLastScholar]

If Xbox finds its own thing - say, an Xbox which runs both XboxOS and Windows 11, or a Deck-like handheld Xbox, or a Switch-like hybrid Xbox - then they can not only match but surpass its competitors. Form factor entices people as much as games.

[@rebeccagibson7428]

Pretty much, yeah

[@ArielCleirigh]

Ouch, straight to xbots balls.

[@corptusion]

Games. Buying studios does not give you great games. Encouraging your studios to make new IPs is risky, but it’s what the gamers wants. And that’s why Sony is dominating. Great single player games.

[@TheBadElf]

Sony don't have that many popular exclusives. And their games are underperforming which is why they tried to turn TLOU into an online game and why they're now porting their exclusives to PC. Nintendo is the only company doing it right from a business stand point

[@gerardopellegrini2698]

​@@TheBadElfalmost of ps exclusives are popular, even days gone who didn't do well on release, is now popular, what are u talking about? Oh wait, sure, let's make popular ips into shitty live service games like halo infinity, that's a better idea

[@TheBadElf]

@@gerardopellegrini2698 My point is very clear. Read it again and try to understand it better

[@gerardopellegrini2698]

@@TheBadElf what point, u don't even have an argument to defend, u think saying " ps exclusives are not popular" is an argument?, ffvii rebirth is doing well, helldivers 2 is doing great, rise of the ronin is doing good a far as I know ( haven't play the game yet so can't tell), Spiderman 2 did extremely well, even ffxvi who "barely meet expectations" did well enough to sell 3m units in 4 days, and im talking about this and last year releases, so yeah, sony make great (mostly single player) games, then again, what are u talking about

[@TheBadElf]

@@gerardopellegrini2698 Playstation's profits have recently hit a decade low LOL. You don't know what you're talking about.

[@tomadon]

It's games, games, games and games. They need to get the most out of what they have.

[@Sand_1995]

They don't have that many AAA studios. Even less than EA or Ubisoft. Activision is stuck making COD so they don't have any studios that can make good AAA games.

[@tomadon]

@@Sand_1995 They have enough studios to put out quality products. Two of the biggest games this year aren't AAA. Palworld and Helldivers 2 are doing quite well.

[@h.i.mcdunnough9421]

So much that they have is multiplat and more exclusives will certainly go multiplat, so they're just starting to feel like a 3rd party publisher. They've given up on xbox as a unique ecosystem.

[@danfry909]

The same thing they always needed going into this generation. Excellent, high quality, exclusive (no PC version for 6 months/ 1 year) games.

[@defeqel6537]

This. Even if the consumer never intends to buy a PC, exclusivity is a strong incentive

[@Electro096]

That's the problem with Xbox, if everything is available on PC day one what's the point of owning a Xbox. Ideally what u said should of been what they should of done from the start of this generation.

[@danfry909]

@@Electro096 Exactly. That 6 month/1 year exclusivity is essential.

[@gerardopellegrini2698]

​@@Electro096that's the weird thing, they sell their console at a loss, to promote their games and games pass, but if they release their game on pc and make a game pass pc version, they are just killing their console for no reason

[@southsidetherealest2860]

The console is only for people who dont want the hassel of pc,Microsoft wants you to get a windows pc over an xbox truthfully speaking

[@60weHoodsta]

Thank god someone admits gamepass is not doing wat certain fans are claiming

[@Shadowman820]

Gamepass does have it's appeal for some no doubt but not something I'm interested in .

[@sdmalpas]

A fucking miracle

[@mza4739]

Rumours of Microsoft releasing their next gen XBOX console a little earlier tells me they don't actually have a plan. This feels like a desperate attempt to get a jump on the console sales.

[@Shadowman820]

Could be smart if they make the thing powerful enough to last for some time .

[@fcukugimmeausername]

I do agree that the migration from Xbox One to Xbox Series was all too familiar. In many ways it was convenient that the controllers were the same and that the interface and console aesthetics were similar but altogether the similarities reduced the 'event' of purchasing and exploring a new console. It all honestly just felt like buying a new computer for work.

[@CoolVids19]

Have real GOOD exclusives

[@JR-jw2du]

I dont think a super powerful console would be that good of a move. The people with that sort of money are likely just to build a PC.

[@lirfrank]

Since Xbox is allergic to modernizing their controllers, (and now can't with Game Pass). They need to focus on good games. Halo Infinite came out in a state it just shouldn't have for their flagship series. All these acquisitions mean nothing if the games coming out are Starfield and Redfall. You can say what you want about Nintendo and Sony, but their output of games and controller innovation is just not comparable.

[@OneLastScholar]

Starfield was a roaring success though. 86 Metascore + most played Bethesda game ever + best-selling Bethesda PC game ever, lifetimes considered. Microsoft doesn't much care about Steam User Reviews or angry Sony fans bashing the game in web forums.

[@lirfrank]

@@OneLastScholar Starfield is the "fastest selling" at launch, but player numbers dropped right after. 86 doesn't make it a critical darling either.

[@gerardopellegrini2698]

​@@OneLastScholardiscrediting user reviews as "ps fanboys bashing" is desilusionaly dumb, the performance was trash, it was full of bugs that sometimes made the game unplayable, the exploration was shallow and the story was just ok, they paid 70$ for the game, they have the right to complain about the game issues

[@nitroxide17]

Better games, better dev support (software tool, dev kits, and such), and for God's sake... a less confusing naming scheme.

[@rangokfunkazuul8344]

You're not ready for Series X box 720 One

[@patrickwetzel8249]

Es würde schon reichen, wenn ihr Sony nicht immer in den A... kriechen würdet ! Nintendo setzt auch nur auf Mario und Konsorten ! Mario hier, Mario da, Mario hier, Mario da !

[@martinbraun1211]

Du hast recht.

[@kieran9882]

I always liked the idea of a Windows big picture mode with every pc game including Steam account libraries but with the minimalism of a console, that would be the ideal Xbox

[@RyeAlvaro]

When I play my PS5 it feels like a New Experience (User Interface, Controller, PS VR 2, PS Portal.) When I play my Xbox Series X, NOTHING feels New (Same User Interface, Same Controller, ect.) as the last Generation had.

[@Shadowman820]

Don't think that's a big issue for most people , just have more games .

[@kevinfought]

Full backwards compatibility with previous consoles. Not make every thing related to internet downloads and cloud data

[@CaptainVideoBlaster]

It would help if they made Xbox One games run better on Series X/S - new batch of resolution and framerate boosts and more backward compatible games.

[@leatherhidegaming]

As much as I hope they'll change, they won't. The whole cloud stuff is their business. Same with Windows.

[@Shadowman820]

Microsoft has been much better with backward comp. than Sony from the start .

[@sampson3121]

So when Xbox supposedly had the most powerful console they were creaming their jeans. Now It's Sony and "Power just doesn't matter anymore". You can't make this up.

[@bugzbunny109]

Yup

[@korinogaro]

Lol, they have no chance. They just sent notice to devs that they, devs, should avoid sexy female characters. So when they are concerned about stuff like that I doubt they have capacity to focus on actually important part... making good, not DEI or other BS games.

[@NiGHTS1980]

They need to make compelling unique games. And offer something you can only experience on the platform. Basically what Sony and Nintendo have been doing for decades and what they themselves did with the 360 generation.

[@ZratP]

I had the OG and the 360, I then moved to the PS4 due to the Xbox One pre-launch debacle and I am on PS5 now due to the lack of direction from Microsoft. You know what I liked during the OG and 360 era? A good lineup of games, most of them exclusives (even temporary) but more than that, real hard hitters. OG XBox: Halo 1 and 2, Jet Set Radio Future, Crimson Skies, Otogi 1 and 2, Riddick, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Fable 1, Steel Battalion, Splinter Cell, Top Spin, Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Dead or Alive 3, Conker's Bad Fur Day. Xbox 360: Halo 3 and Reach, Gears of War, Ace Combat 6: Liberation of Gracemeria but also a lot of Japanese RPGs that were exclusive (at least temporary)! Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery, Bayonetta really superior version etc... Do you realize the power of those lineups compared to the current Xbox Series lineup. Sure the market has evolved and since new engines like Unreal, most of games are going multi-platform. But still, the reason I also got happy with the PS4? FF7 Remake, Persona 5, Yakuza 0, Nier Automata, God of War, Horizon, Uncharted for example were true exclusives unavailable on Xbox and even PC at that time. For the PS5 it's less appealing again due to how the market evolves, but still, the Spiderman series, Horizon and God of War again, FF7 Rebirth, FF16, Stellar Blade, Gran Turismo 7 are still titles that make it worth getting the console. On Xbox Series, except maybe Halo Infinite, I don't have reasons to buy the console or games are also immediately on PC (like HiFi Rush)

[@AJJJ-co2vd]

I think fsr 3.1 really needs to be standard for console gaming so that performance is there

[@balaam_7087]

Make good games and mint them on these cool, shiny little plastic circles I saw once

[@jigga69000]

The worst Sony console has sold better than the best Microsoft console. 👋

[@user-rc1ok6cn2b]

what, PS5 is the best console ever

[@ThinkTinkh]

Well that's not true

[@Andre-yy3en]

​@@ThinkTinkhno? Xbox 360 sold 85.7 millions of consoles, while ps3 sold 87.4 millions

[@ThinkTinkh]

@@Andre-yy3en ah you meant by popularity. I thought you meant by sales numbers and the worst selling Sony console is currently the ps5 at 50 or so million

[@JuanitoMedz]

Indeed PS3 outsold xbox 360. Playstation always win. Lol the blind people in denial ps Is far superior.

[@glasgowblackchigowski6117]

Solid exclusives that's it, they're literally too rich to lose why the heck aren't they investing massively in a vision of exclusivity where they make games that everyone wants to play? This works like magic for sony and nintendo, the fact that the one party with unlimited money incredible power can't make this happen is insane.

[@countquackula8539]

They need to just be a 3rd party developer.

[@dusermiginte4647]

So poonies can buy their exclusives foe $200 a piece and new consoles for $1200.. yeah, competition is so bad.. Poonies are sooooo fking clueless.. 😂

[@RetroMythologist]

It's about the games.

[@chrisbullock6477]

Hey DF, I thought it was always about the Games and love of video games and the technology behind them and being that there's no partiality we ultimately want all platforms to win. Or these types of ongoing themes are just job security?

[@Jon_Snow_88]

Honestly I have no issues with Xbox and had one for a long time as my main platform to play on but I really and truthfully doubt that Xbox will ever “beat” Sony in anything anymore. Sony just has such a massive lead and so many loyal customers that they’ll always have it. Xbox could be the superior console in every way and still probably under sell compared to Sony.

[@ikwilgeenkanaalzeur]

Games, need a lot of (good) games. They own so many studios but the output has not been great. Had high expectations of Starfield but that was not fully met.

[@gkey06]

at least youre honest.

[@dusermiginte4647]

They are releasing 10+ first party games this year though..

[@gkey06]

@dusermiginte4647 yaaay 10+ first party games. after how many years of releasing nothing but halo and forza? You guys are apologetic to xbox. The abysmal Xbox one generation should have made you guys not even buy a Series X

[@Shadowman820]

Yeah but what can they do when the studios they own produce shit ?

[@dusermiginte4647]

@@gkey06 uhm.. one first party game last year and zero first party games this year.. You were saying?

[@soraaoixxthebluesky]

I believe they can shift their position in the market if they put time on making a handheld that are as powerful as Series S. Series S Portable with a docking system.

[@theghost4040]

I agree but they just need to put the Xbox series S in a handheld form factor

[@soraaoixxthebluesky]

@@theghost4040 I mean that’s obvious. Release a handful list of timed exclusive titles that only available on Xbox then release them on PC 6-8 moths later. People bought the machine because of the game available on them not because of how powerful they are. If all the titles available on Xbox also available on PC on day one, then chances of people downloading a crack going to be very high. They will ignore how cheap Xbox is compared to PC because you can literally play all exclusive AAA titles for free. Nintendo and Sony tight game release policy is the testament to that. Back then people bought so PS4 or Switch just so they can play plenty of titles that aren’t available on PC. With the rise of mobile gaming on smartphones, portable device makes much more sense now. They can use a slightly weaker GPU while handheld for 1080p gaming and add both AI chip (for AI upscaling) and secondary GPU to their docking system so that you can get a sharp and crips 4K presentation on your 55inch 4K TV. I believe people would still buy if it cost $150 more than a standard Series X cause the price increase is pretty much justifiable.

[@CrackDavidson1]

Pivot to snapdragon ARM and make handheld which you can dock into a bigger box, which has discrete gpu, extra storage and controllers. Maybe have a couple of different skus of gpus. Base dock with no gpu for the cheapest config and then a couple of higher skus.

[@h.i.mcdunnough9421]

Why did Alex get frustrated and say "whatever" when rich was talking about ps5 outperforming series x. Why would he care lol

[@Barbaroossa]

Nothing. It's impossible. The Halo franchise is pretty much forgotten by casual players, Gears is in good hands but one good exclusive is not enough to be a system seller. What other exclusive does the Xbox brand has? Some fucking racing game? It's ogre and Microsoft already knows this, which is why they're planning on releasing a bunch of former exclusive games on PS5.

[@tony_0088]

Very simple, more good games.

[@oliverman6168]

It's difficult if not impossible for series X to jump ahead while tethered to series S. Series S was a stupid idea.

[@caseypearce9078]

Did the investment in the better silicon on the SX that Rich mentioned not pay off because devs either couldn't/wouldn't develop/optimize for it?

[@Sand_1995]

You can put a 4090 in an xbox and it would still only maintain parity with ps5 because of parity clauses and PS5 being the console devs first develop for

[@NightWanderer31415]

It's not that big of a difference against PS5 for devs to design games that specifically take advantage of it. Perhaps slightly better resolution and RT, but not much more.

[@Mcnooblet]

I don't think so, when you look at the majority of gamers in the PC space, they too aren't using RDNA2 feature sets and above for the majority. How viable and good were these RDNA2 features that Microsoft invested in them, while Sony didn't because they spent time with developers and found these features weren't going to be the targets. Newer mesh shading for instance was an RDNA2 feature, but how many games are even using RDNA2 mesh shading? As far as raw performance goes, 12 tflops of RDNA2 vs 10.2 tflops of RDNA2 isn't even enough to justify or create a gap between 2 different Radeon GPUs of the same RDNA2 class. They did it to shoot for the excitement of "the worlds most powerful console" and it just didn't pan out as they were hoping. Sony made software solutions to some of the hardware missing features of RDNA2, and it simply worked out for them in the end. RDNA2 is also not known for strong RT either so there was never going to be a difference there. Sony really weighed it out and talked with developers to get an idea of how the next generation was going to go, Microsoft wanted to try to shoot for the hardcore crowd of "the worlds most powerful console" and now know they are actually the minority of gamers.

[@Sand_1995]

@@Mcnooblet Alan Wake 2 doesn't run on gtx class gpus simply for their lack of mesh shaders. Sony uses primitive shaders which Alan wake 2 and Cyberpunk use. Sony was forced to come up with solutions since they lack dx12 technologies. Their faster ssd is literally to make up for their lack direct storage tech. The truth is if series X were the higher selling console devs would have squeezed the hell out of rdna 2 feature set.

[@manny3273]

The solution is to advertise disney does it, netflix does it, and so does hulu. If MS put out ads saying what's new on gamepass people would subscribe. Right now all people that don't follow Xbox know is that MS has another subscription service and not what's in it. I would go as far as some people not knowing there's a subscription service. Plus MS needs to change the naming some people right now think it is still the Xbox one series X and S. The interface being the same doesn't help either.

[@whiteowl87]

Could Xbox make a modular console that could use a hybrid of specific console but also some PC parts? Then the handheld could have some of that to a way lesser extent but would also be the more budget friendly console.

[@Sand_1995]

Microsoft wants out of the hardware business. Let's be honest, if they wanted to they could outspend Sony and get every third party deal on the planet and make Xbox dominant . They simply don't have the hunger to compete in a dying console space. Mobile and cloud are where the future is at and Apple holds the keys to the golden gates. That's why the lawsuit against Apple to open up their ecosystem.

[@whiteowl87]

@@Sand_1995 not very cost effective to spend that much money. A lot of money doesn't mean infinite money and the FTC has always been willing to target them. The Surface is hardware, they seem to be sticking to that and they have shown regret not staying in the mobile phone market.

[@riddenuk]

The Xbox hand held should have a seagate SDD port to put in your SDD drive into. You could the. Transfer your installed games on the console to the handheld with minimal effort

[@clojap]

If MS goes with Nvidia what happens to backwards compatibility?

[@wmv8996]

They need to do more than just say our box has best graphics. Ever since the kinect they havent innovated because they are scared to.

[@Rocksteady72a]

The fact that their main marketing gimmick this gen was "most powerful box" & yet became the console with more inconsistency & texture issues, and occasionally whole PC-like stutters (likely from having half the I/O than what PS5 ended up going with) really makes it hard to see what the appeal is for them this gen, especially now that Game Catalog is a thing. I'd be very interested in buying an Xbox handheld if those rumors are true, but as for at-home consoles, it's hard to see what their point is atm.

[@ContrastCopy]

How has Sony innovated? Psvr2, that bombed.

[@deathtrooper2048]

They need to stop putting games on other platform and start going after devs who purposely downgrade games on Xbox to make PS look better like Capcom

[@Rocksteady72a]

@@ContrastCopy how is selling more than the previous generation "bombed"? Are you okay? Is Xbox not able to be propped up without trying to swing at something else?

[@JuanitoMedz]

😂 the most powerful console bs indeed. Looks at halo infinite that looked like a wii game. Inconsistent brick. Terrible situation xbox Is in.

[@samhawkes6597]

i think its clear as pointed out here, one is xbox need to move away from AMD. Xboxs next console moving to nvidia would likely have a tangable performance improvement over the next sony console, and dlss tech would be awsome. and two, a dedicated handheld, powerful with nvidia tech released alongside a new console would definetly get people excited again in xbox hardware.

[@ZratP]

Nvidia has been known to be an awful partner for both Sony and MS. Even Nintendo was just a good opportunity for Nvidia to get rid of all those vanilla X1 and not invest much in RnD. Switch 2 may prove that Nvidia has changed but there is a reason why MS and Sony (and even Apple) dropped Nvidia in the past.

[@samhawkes6597]

@@ZratP theyd be more expensive no doubt. but. its all about generating excitment for there next console. and xbox coming out strong with an nvidia based machine, especially if ps5 go amd again, well that would generate alot of buzz around the console, it would no doubt be more powerful than the playstations amd solution, but having dlss instead of fsr would be very exciting as fsr is crap and way better ray tracing. them going nvidia would generate alot of buzz around there product within the industry, which is exactly what they need. i believe that, plus bringing out a handheld aswell, that would get people talking about xbox again.

[@originalbadboy32]

Nope

[@BlueLionsTVNiiNiiFC]

They actually needs to make games that push the industry forward. I regret buying my Series X, it just collects dust. Only holding out for Senua 2 atm

[@Dirk1Steele]

Right at the end there it sounded like you were suggesting the 3DO.

[@felixblack2388]

Get Outrun Coast to Coast sorted to play on back compat…

[@Wol333]

Fun games, that's it.

[@sevenforcex]

The 360 is looking like a one off fluke, much like how SEGA fumbled the ball after the mega drive, I don't think that version of MS is ever coming back.

[@knightsouls]

When are you going to cover Brotato? You need to let us know how it can run at 4k 60fps.

[@Nicolas-qc3jf]

Actual exclusives. And interesting ones at that.

[@nihilityjoey]

I want to then to stop putting exclusives on pc day one. If they are to get an Xbox game, they should get it when the console game is finished and they can concentrate on the port properly. Take Forza for instance, the majority of complaints about performance are from pc players. Yet it's Xbox's name that gets dragged through the mud.

[@unjustkatana]

Microsoft needs to get rid of us, the ones who still remember E3 2013. Forcing things on your loyal customers that way, it's not an easy pill to swallow. Sony PSN increased the price which made it hard for people to connect with friends and stay engaged.

[@DeckTested]

There’s not been a single game exclusive on Series X after 5 years that’s made me glad to have bought one. They have entirely admitted defeat by slowly trickling their first party games on their biggest competitors platform as well. Will people just buy a PS6 knowing Xbox games will launch eventually on it too and just skip the next revision?

[@papichulo4650]

Start with the getting rid of the batteries in the controls.

[@arthurchu4491]

With the recent no curvy female character in video games policy development, Microsoft is going to win nothing but gamer's middle fingers.

[@alex1212456]

Replace Phil Spencer

[@marklarz4399]

Bobby Kotick in

[@lirfrank]

Literally the only person Xbox is still alive. The people surrounding him don't seem to know what they're doing, though.

[@ARH0101]

I mean, he’s the only one who theoretically pulled the Xbox brand out of the mud when Don Matterick fucked the Xbox image up for good in 2013. He’s not great, but are there other options?

[@lilpain1997]

@@lirfrank He doesn't know what he is doing... He literally didn't understand that games sell consoles. Which is funny as that is why Nintendo sells so damn well, they have amazing games which people are willing to pick up their consoles for. What games does Xbox actually have that is worth picking one up for??? None...

[@lirfrank]

@@lilpain1997 I don't disagree that games are Xbox's biggest issue right now. But considering all of the course correct Phil has done, I don't actually think he doesn't understand that. I think that a lot of the studios are still carrying the poor management that they were given before Phil's time.

[@NoverianSnowCone]

I think working from home has been the biggest hangover from COVID. It's a poison to overall productivity.

[@upon-fe2720]

Probably don't give over some of their best exclusives to Sony would be a start. Seeing Hi Fi Rush and SoT on the PS Store is weird as fuck

[@carlosdonizetti9573]

Unique and different exclusives. Halo and Gears are great but we need more variety like Hi Fi Rush, besides I never seem a company spend so much money and delivery almost nothing in 4 years of a generation :(

[@Sand_1995]

There hasn't been a new gears of war in over half a decade.

[@Sand_1995]

Most of the money was spent in buying mobile game studios like King

[@ThePotatoPolice]

Microsoft have fluffed it up majorly, losing the Xbox one gen by such a margin has sullied any type of revival. Awful marketing and a generation of uninspiring titles lead to a poor console player base leading to further poor sales on exclusives. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft pull a ‘Steam machine’ in the future. Microsoft are simply their own worst enemy.

[@bungleprosy]

Idk if there’s really any chance anymore. I think they need to be comfortable operating in third place, and branch out to strategies that’ll keep increasing profit from a business standpoint. There is one chance though. If they made the Xbox consoles run windows 11 and had the Xbox interface as a Steam Big Picture mode sort of option, I think they would really jump up. They would be the most affordable gaming pcs on the market, keep the Xbox name, keep the Xbox store, but allow full pc capabilities.

[@philwalker7160]

As others have said, better games. Xbox has not had an industry stopping 10/10 for well over a decade.

[@G360LIVE]

Exactly. For as long as Phil Spencer has been in charge, Xbox has not had a single industry-stopping 10/10 game. What does that tell you? Is Phil Spencer a gamer? Does he really know how to run the Xbox business? What's he really doing if he's not making great games or selling consoles?

[@rainsthetic]

apply FSR 3.1 to all games

[@lilpain1997]

And what will that do? The frame gen side wont do anything if games start going back to 30fps The upscaling will help but not much as they are trying to upscale from really low internal reses to hit those higher frame rates people want... Also it wont do anything to save Xbox as a brand. They need games that people want to actually play, they literally haven't released anything good in a very long time.

[@alumlovescake]

Make a good AAA game, HI FI Rush doesn't count. Halo used to respected and liked and Starfield was hyped to be the game of all time and they messed both up

[@dusermiginte4647]

Over 35M people played Halo Infinite..

[@Andre-yy3en]

​@@dusermiginte4647 4 500 players on average the last 30 days (halo) vs 13 000 (battlefailed 2042)

[@Andre-yy3en]

​@@dusermiginte4647 yeah but after 1-2 months everybody quit because of a severe lack of content

[@_sparrowhawk]

"SteamDeck has been a success" It's sold about 4M units. Nothing compared to major players. If MSFT did that their console market share would be godawful. Your advice for them to 'just make a PC' is the end of their console run. They'd be out of the console market. Congrats MSFT.

[@CoffeeCat369]

thats simple, make great games.

[@MeatMissile78]

Probably more virtue signaling and awesome policies like diversity, equity and inclusion will get them there in no time I'm sure.

[@HJayZ91]

Idk if this year MS has better exclusives than Sony is right. Just like a quarter into the year Sony already has 2 exclusives that are GOTY contenders in FF7Rebirth and Helldivers 2 and still has Rise of Ronin and Stellblade coming out in the near future while Xbox has Palworld and nothing else until like May or June when Hellblade 2 comes out

[@ARH0101]

Sony has confirmed they having absolutely nothing launching from their first party studios for the rest of 2024. They’re not much better off.

[@funkDr1]

That’s not what they said. They said no major franchise till 2025. Misinterpreted as no games. The doors still open for smaller franchises or any new ip like Concord that releases this year.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

It is just *NOT* about Raw Specs anymore... It is about HOW MUCH are You/Developers willing to Invest(Time&Money) to squeeze as much out of the Hardware as Possible! And with rising Development Costs true Triple A Games will be lesser and lesser... Also the UI of the Next Xbox REALLY has to be really Different.... I am getting SICK of the more than 10! Years old X1 UI essentially

[@wolfinstedd]

As someone living in Uk , Xbox need up there advertising , maybe have time delay on 1st party games going onto game pass might drive sales . Or make good mid tier console at 200-300 price point as lower price = better sales with game catalog.

[@michaeldietz2648]

It’s not possible Microsoft is going to leave the gaming industry halfway through next generation (The writing is on the wall anybody could see it)

[@michaeldietz2648]

@@XAV-117 lol sure it is. Obviously you don’t know much about the gaming industry and you don’t know nothing about how Microsoft as a company works.

[@blues05]

Microsoft's too dumb! What were they thinking? Trying to beat Sony and Nintendo at their own game? LoL! Xbox should be a publisher first and turn their console into a full fledge pc, that's the only way they could beat Sony and Nintendo!

[@michaeldietz2648]

@@blues05 Realistically I don’t think Microsoft is not smart enough to beat Sony, it’s that corporate greed will not allow them to. I’m sure somebody at Microsoft said something along the lines of do not buy Activision, invest into your own first party studios grow them, start making deals like Sony does to bring popular games to the consuls (for example go to square and say make us Crono trigger like you did With FF7 for Sony) put the Xbox consul first stop putting exclusives on PC (sorry but any game that goes to PC is not exclusive anymore and that goes for any of the big publishers) The problem is the higher-ups think that they can outspend Sony when art is something that cannot be bought. Microsoft does not know what they’re doing in the gaming industry and honestly they don’t belong in it they should get out.

[@Arizona-ex5yt]

Unfortunately, the wonderful weirdness of the console market that existed in the 1990s is gone and that wild west feel will never come back. What I really want is more companies entering the console market (Samsung? Apple?) but that’s an absurdity at this point. We are stuck with two uncreative mega-corporations literally getting parts from the same source and Nintendo playing in its own sandbox making them look foolish.

[@mikemahoneygaming5754]

Nintendos sold so many because parents buy them to shut the kids up on journeys lol. I know I’ve brought two!! Me and the Mrs both play ps5 because… games

[@oppa1319]

Accept curvy woman’s body exist too.

[@TheProjectOverload]

Xbox OS on PC platform would be great - Even if it only accessed Game Pass to avoid copy protection issues with physical media. Low level operating system experience for gaming is very interesting.

[@jredubr]

You guys got it all wrong. Nintendo didn’t prove specs don’t matter. It proved that software is king. Even with limited hardware. Microsoft has never been a gaming brand, never will be. It has no “soul” it has very few classic games under its umbrella. Every single time I hear about a new box coming, the only guys that get excited about it are the Halo guys and guess what - it can be played on a PC. Fable isn’t here anymore. MS bought a shit ton of studios just to press them to release average games that will be on PC anyways. There’s no reason to buy a box. Game pass alone won’t do it.

[@davidwatts8578]

Next gen ?! It’s all just closed platform pc gaming now anyways. NIntendo will win again as mass market gamers do not care about quality of reflections in puddles in average games whilst they are instead playing fun well designed gameing experiences

[@defeqel6537]

This. Nintendo makes games that you can just play and enjoy, there is clarity in their game and art design that captures a wide market. Being cheap, and flexible usability wise helps as well.

[@iulo4657]

There is a New handheld machine coming out late this year in Brasil, the Zeenix, with very interesting specs in its PRO version that runs on Windows. It will be a good test to seen if a Microsoft handheld is fiasible. Mainly because here we can only get steamdeck from abroad.

[@Jasonsadventures]

Buy Sony... lol. Seriously though that war is over. I think they should keep making consoles for the people invested in that ecosystem.

[@mikem2253]

ACTUAL exclusives. Games not on PC until later. Keeping people from leaving your platform should not be a science...

[@TioRata]

Console and PC are separated markets. Helldivers II launched day one on PC and PS5 and it made a shit ton of cash for Sony.

[@originalbadboy32]

Xbox has actual exclusives, can we please stop that false narrative.

[@thelazyworkersandwich4169]

You're not wrong ,but at this point its a non option since the company that owns Xbox has always been known for having the most popular operating system in the world which they have to support.

[@AzaiaMonota]

There is no winning because there is no more choosing let's be real anyone who bought PS4 and PS5 is going to buy PS6 it doesn't matter how good the next Xbox is or how good the games are those people are going to get the PS6 and this goes double for people who have been on PlayStation even longer if you are someone who has been on PlayStation since PS1 and have all the PlayStation consoles you already know you are getting a PS6 it's not even a question and same goes for people on Xbox if you have been with Xbox since the OG Xbox you already know you are going to buy the next Xbox it doesn't matter how good the PS6 is at best you will get the opposite console as a secondary system but not before you get the one you have been on the last 20 some years the only people who are actually choosing are the new gamers

[@jesse76th96]

hardcore fans of a console sure, but no ones dropping 1k for a system that has no games, no matter the company. PS5 got a away with it because the hype but xbox is dying because no games and PS5 is hanging on because people want to play GTA6

[@Sand_1995]

Not really. Digital libraries on console only matter for a gen unlike PC. I went from PS4 to Series X and will switch to a PS6 next gen. If I want to play my old library I simply boot up the old system, it's not like those games run any better in the new systems

[@carlito1777]

@@jesse76th96the ps5 games are lame

[@mikem2253]

Problem is gamers that have the money will go Ps5, Switch and PC. Xbox is irrelevant in those convos because they have no games you can't get on PC.

[@Sand_1995]

@@mikem2253 so are Sony and Nintendo irrelevant . I literally emulated Zelda the other day on PC and have all Sony exclusives on my steam. Only peasants buy consoles and they buy whichever dumb box is advertised a lot. Consoles are irrelevant

[@wrathgor]

1) Games more than just Halo Forza and Gears. 2) Exclusivity. They just can't sell any Xbox to any PC gamer at this point. Guys, make some games exclusive for your console... At least for a limited time.

[@ReaperCet]

If Microsoft releases an "Xbox OS" that conso-ifies PC's for people who want that. They'll win. Then all they have to do is maintain the Xbox hardware as lower spec entry point, the console war will be effectively over. The steam deck showed that there's a market that wants a console experience with PC capabilities and Microsoft is poised to do that better than valve ever could.

[@GeneralS1mba]

This! Pcs are seen as complicated and unnecessary.

[@BlueMarsalis]

Make a Xbox that can use PC features. (Like modding, like Steam, like GoG, like Epic.) Make a good Halo, make a good Gears.

[@Kor3Gaming_Ghost]

u could just get a pc if u want all these features 😂

[@BlueMarsalis]

The simplicity of a console though, with the options of using it like a PC gaming platform actually sounds ideal to me.

[@CJP.-pq3kr]

@@Kor3Gaming_Ghost- you can’t get a PC for the Xbox’s price point with games optimized for the hardware. That’s the whole point. Stop being clueless

[@gg_regoire]

Steam os ​@@BlueMarsalis

[@adds-kz3oc]

Get a Steam Deck