Xbox fanatics social media meltdowns in regards to 3rd party move and other losses |OT| "When fiction meets reality.

JAHGamer

JAHGamer

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8 May 2023
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there's a lot of former Xbox fanboys that I don't mind "switching over", but not scumbags like this

This guy is one of the trashiest fanboys i've ever come across

 
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panda-zebra

panda-zebra

Active member
2 Mar 2024
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244
NW UK
Not a fanatic or a meltdown, but this is fitting here as Icon's favourite analyst striking back with some on-brand picture-painting engagement-farming - every bit as juicy as any console warrior meltdown business:



What's the issue? Well, if you zoom out a little and take note of the y-axis...

Nv3p1Pz.png


"Review bombing" 😂

Arrested Development Tobias GIF


This is one of Mat's finest skills - carefully selecting a data point, using it to push a narrative and reinforcing it with "science" in the form of a chart or graph - one that appears at a glance to state Thing A when the actual truth might be something more like Thing Z. Outing himself right here, letting us take a peek behind the curtain.

1. Take a hot topic (review bombing, Helldivers II)
2. Apply it to something else to drive engagement in the form of likes
3. ???? (Watch as click-bait sites recycle the "news", link back to the tweet and maybe even go give the game a +ve review, herd mentality)
4. Profit (in the form of yet more clicks/engagement)

That engagement always looks good to those upstairs however it's manufactured.

Bravo, Mat! You should make a tweet out of this post and use it to farm some enraged engagement - we could call in engag... enragem... eng... enragegr... NM, we can work on the name later, my portmanteau skills are no match for your numberwang xoxox
 
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Puff

Puff

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10 Jan 2023
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2,603

Happy Friday. People have asked me what I think about the Xbox strategy and all this press. Publications have asked me questions about Xbox.

I 100% love Xbox and think Xbox can find a path to great success for their teams and players around the world. 100%. 110%!

To answer some questions:

Xbox has always been accountable for its business. Even when it was small, or in the red, pressure exists and always will. I see some articles today with anonymous ex-Xbox'ers talking about the Board....I don't see this as "the Board" doing something different. It's not the function of a Board to be operators that dictate to business units and teams what to do day to day. Sure, pressure and stakes are always high and only get higher as you grow. I've never seen Satya dictate something top down - he questions and pushes but empowers his teams. He is a fantastic leader.

The idea of 'the market isn't growing' is a PR excuse. As a team, it's your job to drive your own growth even if the overall market isn't growing at the anticipated rate. I think it's more 'the strategy isn't working as expected'. Which is OK - strategies have to continually shift in a market that moves as fast as gaming does.

I'll say again, this all comes down to making great games. If you make great games, consumer demand will follow and your business can do well even in low market growth years. A great game is a $500M-1B+ profit generator for the business (across platforms). Given the size of Studios, you need to get to a world where a few of the teams are delivering against this at the right cadence (you don't need all your Studios doing big, huge games... and shouldn't as the risk profile is too large). After all, your install base is big right now given where we are in this console generation (and of course big on PC as well) so the opportunity exists for success.

If you aren't making great games then your hardware isn't selling, and your subscription is flatlining .... the clarity of strategy or execution is broken somewhere and needs to be fixed inclusive of ensuring leadership and team capability to drive great game development and growth. They 100% have teams who can make great games. It just isn't consistently happening.

I see two paths here: If your North Star is the Game Pass subscription, you have to take that exclusive to your services and HW and be all in across games, HW, and services in an exclusive 'go big' plan. Pumping regular 90+ rated games into this will drive consumer affinity and satisfaction. That said, it is high risk/high reward and takes a strong desire to win. If you're not willing to do that, then you're on another path: you're a Publisher across all devices and you need to embrace that 100% and be clear (likely means out of HW, I fundamentally believe if you don't have great exclusive content your HW is doomed as people won't understand 'why' they need it.). Being the world's largest publisher of games is a great spot to be in - as long as you can make great games. If you can't, you'll be right back where you started. You have the pick your lane and go hard at it for success, with clear communication to your players. If you play in the middle of these two paths, IMHO you'll hurt your teams and you'll have constant churn and chaos.

It starts and ends with a strong desire to win and making great games that exceed player expectations. That is what is fragile now and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

These are all hard decisions, it's certainly no easy task given where things stand today, and both paths have dramatic implications. But I fundamentally believe in Xbox, its fans, and the opportunity ahead for great HW, services, and games OR as a publisher of games and services across any screen. I'm cheering for Xbox and it pains me to see all the negative swirl. So for those asking, keep the faith in Xbox but ask for clarity on what the path forward is for the brand and product. Then make your own decision on what is best for you and your valuable time and money.

For those who think I'm one of the people talking to publications anonymously about Xbox, I am not. I was not a founding member of Xbox and I think by now you all know I won't be 'anonymous' if I have something to say .

These are just my opinions. This is the last I will talk about this here on X. It's easy to say what you think when you're not in the trenches living the reality of the challenges. I wish great success for Xbox now and into the future - it's good for gaming overall and I care deeply for Blizzard who is now part of the Xbox team.
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