‘There’s going to be more change’: Phil Spencer speaks on Indy PS5 news
- Thread starter Puff
- Start date
I've already answered it (though maybe not as clearly as some require).
PlayStation was the bulk of the gaming market during the heights of the PlayStation 1. The PC market was minuscule, mobile was non existent, the arcades and Sega were on their deathbed. PlayStation was literally the Belle of the Ball in that era.
All that has changed. PC is a major player that's growing rapidly. Mobile has been a giant for 10+ years. A number of 3rd party publishers are suddenly nipping at their heels in terms of market size.
PlayStation can no longer dictate terms like they could 25 years ago. There's too many other pretty girls at the Ball.
Couple that with the fact that game budgets continue to skyrocket, all the last remaining 3rd party companies who used to be cozy with PlayStation have now gone true 3rd party, and Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst are telling you (and showing you) that PlayStation is mostly embracing PC already...it's beyond bizarre that some of you still can't see it.
It's like those Vietnamese soldiers they found hidden on remote islands who still thought the Vietnam War was going on in the 90s.
XBox is slowly putting everything on PlayStation just like PlayStation is slowly putting everything on PC. They're both responding appropriately to the new market we're in.
Comparing marketshare for the market in 1997 to marketshare for the market in 2024 is one of the most disingenuous fallacies I saw you perform here in the last couple of days.
You make Saul Goodman sound very honest LOL.
No because the business principle is universal and timeless.
They had significant more leverage 30 years ago than they do today. Leverage isn't a new concept. I swear I could explain videogames to spice traders in 500BC Mesopotamia easier than some of y'all.
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And you would look dumb to them ( just like Xbots are today) and juicy for eat.
Hargeet is the nintendo version of ohnoitsalexx. Pretends he's a console war "neutral", but everything he says and does is coping and justifying all of Xbox's failures.
With this post you've shown everyone on this forum you deserve and need to be put on ignore.
Only for those who do not enjoy listening to opposing viewpoints. I wish these types of people nothing but the best but I do not find them interesting to read. I enjoy hearing from people critical of my position. Do what you must, friend.
There is a problem. If only, JUST ONLY those viewpoints are legit, but is only about dooming and putting PS and Nintendo in the same basket with Xbox problems. But that is not it. Xbox fuckery isn't a industry wide problem
60% of PlayStations resources are already going to day and date PC titles. The other 40% are coming to PC after a short window. This isn’t even a discussion anymore. They’re already multi platform just like XBox is.
Don't see why any Xbox fan would be mad or upset at this point. Phil told everyone back in June more games were being ported to PlayStation 5 after Doom: The Dark Ages was announced as a multi-platform release day one. Back in February, when they announced the four games, Phil never said Starfield or Indiana Jones weren't being ported to PlayStation 5, just that they weren't part of the initial four games. That in of itself should have told Xbox fans everything they needed to know.
Microsoft porting their games to Sony/Nintendo platforms started in early 2023 when Rare was already developing a PlayStation 5 port for Sea of Thieves and was because they were already spending $70B+ on acquiring ABK which doesn't include all the lawyer and court fees. The shareholders and investors simply want their $70B+ back as quickly as possible. Spencer is just the talking head now. It's Nadella/Hood/Stuart calling the shots regardless of what Phil/Matt/Sarah want.
Phil's power that was given to him in late 2017 when he convinced Nadella to keep Xbox alive is gone. Phil overplayed his hand by going after ABK because the suits at Microsoft barely paid attention to the gaming division and Xbox in particular but when you're asking to spend $70B+ on a gaming acquisition of the biggest third party publisher, everything changes. Now all the suits want every little detail period. Oddly enough, all the Xbox fans that wanted ABK probably wish they never got them now while all the PlayStation fans that didn't want Microsoft to get ABK are now, probably happy that they did because it's going to greatly benefit them.
Microsoft should be clearer with their long term plan and strategy but they've been bad at that for the last 11 years so at this point, if anything, they should probably just shut the hell up. They know this generation is over and done with. No reason to keep fighting a war you already lost.
As for there being more change, I believe there will be but it won't happen overnight. We all know what Microsoft is doing but with regards to Sony, people are already seeing it. They're on PC now which let's be honest, no PlayStation fanboy ever thought would happen. The same fanboys also believed that day one on PC would never happen even though they already started it with their live service games in Helldivers 2 and Concord while Lego Horizon Adventures is day one on PC and Switch. And this was after agreeing to the third party contract with MLB for The Show and allowing Bungie to stay multi-platform after acquiring them. Neither of which will change. You could even argue that since the Lego game has been in development for at least 3+ years, the deal was probably made in 2020 which means that when you think about it, if Microsoft never went after ABK, Sony would be the company to put one of their games on a competing console before Microsoft.
Short term, I believe Sony will be day one on PC before PlayStation 6 releases. They've already sped up the process twice and have gone against what they've said twice. It's not just Microsoft that lies. Sony lies too. Every company lies. It's that simple. As for releasing games on competing consoles. I believe MLB and Bungie stays as is. I can see Media Molecule's next game being on Xbox/Switch 2 especially Switch 2 if it's a kiddy game because Dreams was a decade long game that simply didn't hit. Sony will want their next game to have the best possible chance at success and adding two other platforms in addition to PC will greatly increase those odds.
Aside from that, I do believe that Helldivers 2 will be on Xbox by early next year because it's been declining, they need a boost and it's a live service game in which you want as many players as possible. Plus, Arrowhead isn't owned by Sony so im sure they can spin it. I know people will say no one buys games on Xbox but even if they get a few million sales, that would be huge for Sony, Arrowhead and the game itself. Plus, Xbox is known as the online shooter box since the original Xbox and what is Helldivers 2? It's an online shooter. Makes sense plus those who wanted to buy it on PlayStation 5 would have already done so, so it wouldn't devalue the console because they would have already maxed out their sales potential with the game already.
Overall, I do believe Sony will do the same thing but at a far slower pace. Something like a decade from now, they'll embrace what Microsoft is currently doing because at the end of the day, it's about one thing for every company - MONEY. When you're also spending the money that Sony spends (like seriously, that Disney/Marvel deal is insane) and the profit margins are lower and they don't have the amount of studios that Microsoft has or more importantly, the live service games that bring in that recurring revenue every month, you're going to eventually pivot and adjust not because you want to but because you have to in order to keep up with what you're known for - $300M single player one and done blockbusters. And most of all, no matter how much money any of them have or are worth, they always want more.
So just like Sony is pivoting towards releasing their games day one on PC, they'll eventually do what Microsoft is doing (even though they've already started which no one ever thought would ever happen but here we are) but are probably a decade or so from being "all in" with that direction like Microsoft currently is.
In terms of the console, platform and eco-system, it's going to eventually become less and less about exclusivity and more about what the company itself is offering you as a gamer and as a consumer. One major factor is that there's tens of millions of gamers/consumers that have massive digital libraries and it's highly unlikely that they jump ship or anything because they're not going to be willing to lose their libraries and for what? Having no more exclusives because gamers/consumers on other platforms can play them too? That's not going to do for those who are already invested into the eco-system because exclusivity as great as it is just isn't worth the trade off in what you would be losing. If you're also into live service games, multi-player games and you have your core group/friends that lay where you're playing, none of them are going to leave just because certain games are no longer exclusive.
For me as an Xbox Series X owner who's honestly going nowhere and not jumping ship, im willing to sacrifice exclusivity in exchange for all the other positives and benefits that I have playing games on Xbox that I simply don't get on PlayStation. My reasons are as follows -
1. Ability to use the Xbox One controller
This is for me the best controller ever. Reasons why are simple - feels great, has no gimmicks and great battery life. As long as Microsoft allows me to use this controller, it's highly unlikely that I ever use their next console's controller unless I feel it's at an equal or superior level.
2. Game Pass
I'm a subscription guy. Movies, TV shows, games. It's simply my preferred way when it comes to consuming entertainment especially gaming because it's too expensive and I want to play a lot of games but have no interest in spending the hundreds if not thousands of dollars required to do so. Just not doing that shit anymore. Not only that but im not a collector nor do I care about ownership. I'm going all digital starting with Visions of Mana this coming week manly because A) I'm just too lazy and don't want to waste my time going to GameStop to pick up/trade in games. B) Most games have dlc/expansions/post launch content so having the digital version of the game is simply easier and far more convienent. C) Thanks to having access to Game Pass Ultimate and Ubisoft+, the money im saving from not having to buy those games simply gives me back the money that I would normally get from trading in physical games. I have already signed up through the middle of July 2025 to Ultimate which cost me $180 but if I would have bought Flintlock ($40) and the upcoming games - COD BO 6 ($70), Stalker 2 ($60) and Indiana Jones ($70), I would have already spent $60 more and for what reason and purpose? I just want to play the game to completion and move on. If an expansion releases later on, I'll go back to it.
3. Microsoft's roadmap
They have a 21 game announced roadmap as of now and im interested in playing 15 of those games. Several publishers combined aren't giving me this let alone a single individual publisher like Microsoft is. Best of all, all of them day one on Game Pass Ultimate.
4. Third party games day one Game Pass
Granted, it's more Indies than anything which are rarely for me but when a third party game does come along like the upcoming Stalker 2, it's literally an added bonus I wasn't originally expecting.
5. Ubisoft+
Like I said above, im a subscriptions guy so to get Ubisoft's games day one on Ubisoft+ which are normally the highest edition of the game which includes the expansions later on is a huge benefit for me because despite being a Ubisoft fanboy, I no longer have any interest in buying their games especially when the vast majority of the time, I play through them once and call it a day.
6. Free Cloud Saves
This has literally saved me over 5 times this generation. Knowing that I have my save files backed up in the cloud for if/when I need them is great.
7. Refund Policy
The yearly limit appears to be 6 games regardless of price since I hit my limit the other day but having this luxury is great because at times, I want to give a game a chance but then, im playing it and im like, "uh, no". lol Refund time.
8. Backwards Compatibility
I'm currently playing through the Halo games for the very first time ever. Combined with MCC being in Game Pass and the games being remastered, being able to go back and play games that i missed out on or just didn't play at the time is great. I had 2 games from the original Xbox (Halo 1 and 2) which I already completed and have 20 games that I want to play that were released for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3. Being able to go back to buy and play Xbox 360 games is a huge benefit because im not going out of my way to buy an Xbox 360 and an older HDTV when I can just play these games on my Xbox Series X.
9. EA Play
This is an added bonus connected to Game Pass Ultimate. I want to play through the Mass Effect games and the original Dead Space games. These games being available to me without having to buy them is great. And I can access them at any time because EA owns them and they're not going anywhere.
10. Discounts on non-Game Pass games
I purchased Bulletstorm for $40 a week ago but this week, it went on sale for Ultimate members. Base game is literally $4. Tried refunding the game so I could rebuy it cheaper but I already had my six refunds for the year so couldn't. But point is, you get discounts on games that you rarely if ever get normally. It's an added bonus.
On the Sony side, yeah, their first party games are usually great for the most and having an average of two a year is also great but this is all they offer me and im sorry but i what will soon be 2025, if you're a hardware manufacturer with your own platform and eco-system, you have to offer me more to fully invest into it. Exclusivity as great as it is especially for bragging rights is something I will easily sacrifice in exchange for having all those benefits above. Of course, this being a PlayStation fan centric forum, obviously, majority here only care about Sony's exclusives (except for when they're bitching every week in the doom thread, lol) and nothing else which in all honesty, more power to you guys but for me personally, exclusives only simply isn't enough.
As the years progress, it's going to become what I have said now for months, play the games that you want to play where you want to play them and call it a day. It's that simple.
Microsoft porting their games to Sony/Nintendo platforms started in early 2023 when Rare was already developing a PlayStation 5 port for Sea of Thieves and was because they were already spending $70B+ on acquiring ABK which doesn't include all the lawyer and court fees. The shareholders and investors simply want their $70B+ back as quickly as possible. Spencer is just the talking head now. It's Nadella/Hood/Stuart calling the shots regardless of what Phil/Matt/Sarah want.
Phil's power that was given to him in late 2017 when he convinced Nadella to keep Xbox alive is gone. Phil overplayed his hand by going after ABK because the suits at Microsoft barely paid attention to the gaming division and Xbox in particular but when you're asking to spend $70B+ on a gaming acquisition of the biggest third party publisher, everything changes. Now all the suits want every little detail period. Oddly enough, all the Xbox fans that wanted ABK probably wish they never got them now while all the PlayStation fans that didn't want Microsoft to get ABK are now, probably happy that they did because it's going to greatly benefit them.
Microsoft should be clearer with their long term plan and strategy but they've been bad at that for the last 11 years so at this point, if anything, they should probably just shut the hell up. They know this generation is over and done with. No reason to keep fighting a war you already lost.
As for there being more change, I believe there will be but it won't happen overnight. We all know what Microsoft is doing but with regards to Sony, people are already seeing it. They're on PC now which let's be honest, no PlayStation fanboy ever thought would happen. The same fanboys also believed that day one on PC would never happen even though they already started it with their live service games in Helldivers 2 and Concord while Lego Horizon Adventures is day one on PC and Switch. And this was after agreeing to the third party contract with MLB for The Show and allowing Bungie to stay multi-platform after acquiring them. Neither of which will change. You could even argue that since the Lego game has been in development for at least 3+ years, the deal was probably made in 2020 which means that when you think about it, if Microsoft never went after ABK, Sony would be the company to put one of their games on a competing console before Microsoft.
Short term, I believe Sony will be day one on PC before PlayStation 6 releases. They've already sped up the process twice and have gone against what they've said twice. It's not just Microsoft that lies. Sony lies too. Every company lies. It's that simple. As for releasing games on competing consoles. I believe MLB and Bungie stays as is. I can see Media Molecule's next game being on Xbox/Switch 2 especially Switch 2 if it's a kiddy game because Dreams was a decade long game that simply didn't hit. Sony will want their next game to have the best possible chance at success and adding two other platforms in addition to PC will greatly increase those odds.
Aside from that, I do believe that Helldivers 2 will be on Xbox by early next year because it's been declining, they need a boost and it's a live service game in which you want as many players as possible. Plus, Arrowhead isn't owned by Sony so im sure they can spin it. I know people will say no one buys games on Xbox but even if they get a few million sales, that would be huge for Sony, Arrowhead and the game itself. Plus, Xbox is known as the online shooter box since the original Xbox and what is Helldivers 2? It's an online shooter. Makes sense plus those who wanted to buy it on PlayStation 5 would have already done so, so it wouldn't devalue the console because they would have already maxed out their sales potential with the game already.
Overall, I do believe Sony will do the same thing but at a far slower pace. Something like a decade from now, they'll embrace what Microsoft is currently doing because at the end of the day, it's about one thing for every company - MONEY. When you're also spending the money that Sony spends (like seriously, that Disney/Marvel deal is insane) and the profit margins are lower and they don't have the amount of studios that Microsoft has or more importantly, the live service games that bring in that recurring revenue every month, you're going to eventually pivot and adjust not because you want to but because you have to in order to keep up with what you're known for - $300M single player one and done blockbusters. And most of all, no matter how much money any of them have or are worth, they always want more.
So just like Sony is pivoting towards releasing their games day one on PC, they'll eventually do what Microsoft is doing (even though they've already started which no one ever thought would ever happen but here we are) but are probably a decade or so from being "all in" with that direction like Microsoft currently is.
In terms of the console, platform and eco-system, it's going to eventually become less and less about exclusivity and more about what the company itself is offering you as a gamer and as a consumer. One major factor is that there's tens of millions of gamers/consumers that have massive digital libraries and it's highly unlikely that they jump ship or anything because they're not going to be willing to lose their libraries and for what? Having no more exclusives because gamers/consumers on other platforms can play them too? That's not going to do for those who are already invested into the eco-system because exclusivity as great as it is just isn't worth the trade off in what you would be losing. If you're also into live service games, multi-player games and you have your core group/friends that lay where you're playing, none of them are going to leave just because certain games are no longer exclusive.
For me as an Xbox Series X owner who's honestly going nowhere and not jumping ship, im willing to sacrifice exclusivity in exchange for all the other positives and benefits that I have playing games on Xbox that I simply don't get on PlayStation. My reasons are as follows -
1. Ability to use the Xbox One controller
This is for me the best controller ever. Reasons why are simple - feels great, has no gimmicks and great battery life. As long as Microsoft allows me to use this controller, it's highly unlikely that I ever use their next console's controller unless I feel it's at an equal or superior level.
2. Game Pass
I'm a subscription guy. Movies, TV shows, games. It's simply my preferred way when it comes to consuming entertainment especially gaming because it's too expensive and I want to play a lot of games but have no interest in spending the hundreds if not thousands of dollars required to do so. Just not doing that shit anymore. Not only that but im not a collector nor do I care about ownership. I'm going all digital starting with Visions of Mana this coming week manly because A) I'm just too lazy and don't want to waste my time going to GameStop to pick up/trade in games. B) Most games have dlc/expansions/post launch content so having the digital version of the game is simply easier and far more convienent. C) Thanks to having access to Game Pass Ultimate and Ubisoft+, the money im saving from not having to buy those games simply gives me back the money that I would normally get from trading in physical games. I have already signed up through the middle of July 2025 to Ultimate which cost me $180 but if I would have bought Flintlock ($40) and the upcoming games - COD BO 6 ($70), Stalker 2 ($60) and Indiana Jones ($70), I would have already spent $60 more and for what reason and purpose? I just want to play the game to completion and move on. If an expansion releases later on, I'll go back to it.
3. Microsoft's roadmap
They have a 21 game announced roadmap as of now and im interested in playing 15 of those games. Several publishers combined aren't giving me this let alone a single individual publisher like Microsoft is. Best of all, all of them day one on Game Pass Ultimate.
4. Third party games day one Game Pass
Granted, it's more Indies than anything which are rarely for me but when a third party game does come along like the upcoming Stalker 2, it's literally an added bonus I wasn't originally expecting.
5. Ubisoft+
Like I said above, im a subscriptions guy so to get Ubisoft's games day one on Ubisoft+ which are normally the highest edition of the game which includes the expansions later on is a huge benefit for me because despite being a Ubisoft fanboy, I no longer have any interest in buying their games especially when the vast majority of the time, I play through them once and call it a day.
6. Free Cloud Saves
This has literally saved me over 5 times this generation. Knowing that I have my save files backed up in the cloud for if/when I need them is great.
7. Refund Policy
The yearly limit appears to be 6 games regardless of price since I hit my limit the other day but having this luxury is great because at times, I want to give a game a chance but then, im playing it and im like, "uh, no". lol Refund time.
8. Backwards Compatibility
I'm currently playing through the Halo games for the very first time ever. Combined with MCC being in Game Pass and the games being remastered, being able to go back and play games that i missed out on or just didn't play at the time is great. I had 2 games from the original Xbox (Halo 1 and 2) which I already completed and have 20 games that I want to play that were released for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3. Being able to go back to buy and play Xbox 360 games is a huge benefit because im not going out of my way to buy an Xbox 360 and an older HDTV when I can just play these games on my Xbox Series X.
9. EA Play
This is an added bonus connected to Game Pass Ultimate. I want to play through the Mass Effect games and the original Dead Space games. These games being available to me without having to buy them is great. And I can access them at any time because EA owns them and they're not going anywhere.
10. Discounts on non-Game Pass games
I purchased Bulletstorm for $40 a week ago but this week, it went on sale for Ultimate members. Base game is literally $4. Tried refunding the game so I could rebuy it cheaper but I already had my six refunds for the year so couldn't. But point is, you get discounts on games that you rarely if ever get normally. It's an added bonus.
On the Sony side, yeah, their first party games are usually great for the most and having an average of two a year is also great but this is all they offer me and im sorry but i what will soon be 2025, if you're a hardware manufacturer with your own platform and eco-system, you have to offer me more to fully invest into it. Exclusivity as great as it is especially for bragging rights is something I will easily sacrifice in exchange for having all those benefits above. Of course, this being a PlayStation fan centric forum, obviously, majority here only care about Sony's exclusives (except for when they're bitching every week in the doom thread, lol) and nothing else which in all honesty, more power to you guys but for me personally, exclusives only simply isn't enough.
As the years progress, it's going to become what I have said now for months, play the games that you want to play where you want to play them and call it a day. It's that simple.