Microsoft considered stopping "Day One" titles on Game Pass

John Elden Ring

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In an email disclosed during the FTC v. Microsoft, Matt Booty, head of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios, encouraged Xbox CFO Tim Stuart to spend a large amount of money on acquiring gaming content in 2019, aiming to compete with Sony on subscriptions. The revelation comes from an exchange of emails that is part of the process.

The email is part of a discussion about Xbox Game Pass, with the rest of the message chain hidden. However, it looks like Microsoft has considered reversing the idea of releasing its own games on Game Pass on launch day, something Booty wasn't happy with. "If we go back to simultaneous releases, it's going to be hard to convince people that things like Mixer or xCloud have any chance of surviving either," he said

. The email reveals Microsoft's strategy and thinking around gaming content for its Xbox Game Pass subscription. Microsoft has since acquired Bethesda for $7.5 billion and is trying to complete the proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Both are much higher than the $2-3 billion estimate mentioned by Booty and

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Kyoji

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Remember when Xbox fanatics couldn't wait and were clamoring for this ftc trial so that Sony could be 'exposed' u had clowns like destin talking about it constantly and cult members parroting the sentiment, its like they didn't understand its not PlayStation on trial here for anti comp concerns, and now all this dirt is coming out on Xbox division.. must be tough to stomach, but im sure they will have a spin for it all by tomorrow! :ROFLMAO:
 

Nhomnhom

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Remember when Xbox fanatics couldn't wait and were clamoring for this ftc trial so that Sony could be 'exposed' u had clowns like destin talking about it constantly and cult members parroting the sentiment, its like they didn't understand its not PlayStation on trial here for anti comp concerns, and now all this dirt is coming out on Xbox division.. must be tough to stomach, but im sure they will have a spin for it all by tomorrow! :ROFLMAO:
How can Sony even be exposed? All we know from Sony is their actions, they are not going around pushing all these "we are the good guys" narratives.

They do temporary exclusive deals and never complained about them (unlike MS that does them on top of everything else and still tries to play the victim).
 
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Cool hand luke

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Remember when Xbox fanatics couldn't wait and were clamoring for this ftc trial so that Sony could be 'exposed' u had clowns like destin talking about it constantly and cult members parroting the sentiment, its like they didn't understand its not PlayStation on trial here for anti comp concerns, and now all this dirt is coming out on Xbox division.. must be tough to stomach, but im sure they will have a spin for it all by tomorrow! :ROFLMAO:
The ABK dumpster fire/failure just keeps getting better and better.
 
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Dr Bass

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How can Sony even be exposed? All we know from Sony is their actions, they are not going around pushing all these "we are the good guys" narratives.

They do temporary exclusive deals and never complained about them (unlike MS that does them on top of everything else and still tries to play the victim).
Great point. Sony doesn't run their mouth. They just let the products do the talking.
 

Gediminas

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How can Sony even be exposed? All we know from Sony is their actions, they are not going around pushing all these "we are the good guys" narratives.

They do temporary exclusive deals and never complained about them (unlike MS that does them on top of everything else and still tries to play the victim).
Yeah, but they are really good guys, compared to all others.
 

Nhomnhom

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Yeah, but they are really good guys, compared to all others.
Sony is not the "good guys", they just aren't MS.

Sony would gladly throw PlayStation users under the bus if it meant more profit for them, see the whole pivot to GaaS. Sony is also ok with zero communication with the user base if it's something they don't want to talk about regardless of how their audience feels.
 
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Gediminas

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Sony is not the "good guys", they just aren't MS.

Sony would gladly throw PlayStation users under the bus if it meant more profit for them, see the whole pivot to GaaS.
I mean, as a company.
They even got trophy, as most honourable company 5 straight years in a row, or something similar..
 
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ethomaz

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They goal is to get Sony out of the business?

Imagine in a world that a company venturing on gaming industry to try to make games better for their consumers first instead to get the competition out of the business...
 

Gediminas

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They goal is to get Sony out of the business?

Imagine in a world that a company venturing on gaming industry to try to make games better for their consumers first instead to get the competition out of the business...
Gladiator GIF
 

laynelane

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I still remember all the people claiming Sony should follow MS in this money-losing endeavor. It's funny how this acquisition process has shown the reality of MS' sub strategy vs all the lies MS, the media, and their militant fans constantly repeated not so long ago (eg. Game Pass leads to an increase in game sales vs. the reality that Game Pass cannibalizes game sales - which directly links to why putting titles on day one is not a great idea).

Also, Mixer lol.
 
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Yurinka

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MS trying to acquire Activision ended being a nightmare for them: the acquisition failed, they lost several billions on it and got exposed multiple times, both showing their asshole strategies and also their awful results in the market.

They keep failing while their direct competitor keeps getting more and more successful.
 

Gods&Monsters

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MS trying to acquire Activision ended being a nightmare for them: the acquisition failed, they lost several billions on it and got exposed multiple times, both showing their asshole strategies and also their awful results in the market.

They keep failing while their direct competitor keeps getting more and more successful.
And yet you were cheering for them to acquire more publishers to "compete" with Sony. There is no competition here. They want to kill Sony and it was obvious for everyone.

MS won't be satisfied until Sony is fucking dead and buried.
 
D

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Called it and it's the right decision.

We can laugh at Xbox for flip-flopping and back-tracking, but this is the right decision all day long. Make Gamepass a breeding ground for low budget games, old AAA games and indies.