-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sea of Thieves on PS5 reveals Microsoft's Trojan Horse to turn millions of PS5 users into Xbox users
- Thread starter ManaByte
- Start date
ManaByte
Gold Member
You're unlocking Xbox achievements and accumulating play time on Xbox.
You're using PS5 hardware to play an Xbox game on Xbox services.
I unlocked two Xbox achievements not on Xbox hardware yesterday and clocked 12 hours of playtime in an Xbox game not running on Xbox hardware.
Mr.Phoenix
Member
Engagement.
Serious bizznez.
Serious bizznez.
King Dazzar
Member
Thats clearly not the sole focus though. Why do Pentiment and Rush if thats the only objective. They want more sales and money full stop. They're simply moving towards being an unconstrained/3rd party publisher. Metrics may well be one of the benefits from that. But it does read like you're narrowing your view to only see what you want to see.
HeisenbergFX4
Member
Not quite the same, MLB is the main publisher of The Show and MLB forced Sony's hand into multiplat
ManaByte
Gold Member
Pentiment was made by 13 people I think Jumping Taco 54 sold more copies on PSN. Rush has a sequel in development on Xbox.
mayham2199
Member
I agree but it does devalue the hardware. Every game reveal becomes a question of when it’s coming to ps.
Also MS hardware sales are now dropping below Xbox one. Was that a consequence of day 1 on pc?
Klayzer
Member
Xbox was forced to go multiplatform by Microsoft. It wasn't Phil's choice.
FalsettoVibe
Member
I don't care how MS words it. If they start porting their major titles to PS day one because of their "every box is an Xbox" lingo, it's less reason for me to buy their hardware.
So whatevs.
So whatevs.
HeisenbergFX4
Member
If you are asking my opinion of why Xbox is failing hardware wise I think its a mix of many people having gaming PCs plus the lack of banger must have games
It was MLBs decision, not MS
ManaByte
Gold Member
MLB told Sony "make the game on every console or we give the license to EA". It was either let MLB release it everywhere or lose The Show and let EA put out a shit baseball game.
Klayzer
Member
Yeah I know. Just messing with you.
Unknown?
Member
Doesn't matter.
Klayzer
Member
Dude, everyone knows the reasons why.
King Dazzar
Member
I reckon they wont limit themselves and will be wanting to move everything that they think will sell. And I predict they hope pretty much everything sells. I think we'll see Starfield later this year. And I'm also wondering if FH5 may come over sooner rather than later.
saintjules
Member
Joke's on them cuz I have both Consoles since launch.
Still not buying SoT.
Still not buying SoT.
Revolutionary
Member
Unknown?
Member
Doesn't matter, they are still playing a game made by WWS. If they were forced or not, that's irrelevant.
Topher
Gold Member
The Sea of Thieves beta is ending early tomorrow morning on PS5, and I posted impressions on the improvements in the PS5 client here. I've put 12 hours into the beta so far and will probably play several more today, but something happened yesterday that was eye opening and revealed the real reason MS is porting these games to PlayStation, and it's not because "people don't buy games on Xbox and they'll buy them on PS5". In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if SoT (and possibly Grounded) show up on PS+ in the future as the true reason for their existence isn't sales of the game client.
When you download SoT on the PS5 it works exactly as it does on Steam. You are REQUIRED to link or create a Microsoft account. You cannot log into the game and play without one. While most people just shrugged and assumed it was for cross progression/cross play, the shocker is that when you're playing Sea of Thieves on a PS5, you're still playing it on Xbox.
Trophies are disabled in the beta (but they're still being tracked so they'll pop on release), and I unlocked two achievements while playing. While the PS5 trophies are disabled, my Xbox mobile app notification popped up showing the achievements were unlocked - while I was playing on the PS5. Those 12 hours I played in the PS5 beta were also added to my tracked playtime on Xbox for the game.
So even though you're using a PS5 to run the game and playing with a DualSense with its haptics, you're still logged into and playing the game on the Xbox services. Meaning MS is going to count every PS user in SoT as an Xbox user when reporting MAU.
Why are they doing this? Sony explained why in 2017:
Sony Talks Shift From Hardware to Monthly Active Users; Plans to Explore Microtransactions
Sony Executives talk about the shift of the business model from hardware units to monthly active users, and the possible exploration of microtransactions.www.dualshockers.com
Every single person playing SoT (and again possibly Grounded) on PS5 can be counted as part of Xbox's MAU metric as they are technically logged in and playing on an Xbox service despite using a PS5 as the doorway to access it. That's why these GaaS games are being ported and why CoD will forever be cross platform. As CoD uses the Activision account (which is now MS) they'll be counting CoD players as "Xbox" users in the MAU metrics going forward.
Yeah.....it is called being a third party publisher.
MasterCornholio
Member
I still don't see it as playing on an Xbox. I mean I understand how it affects their numbers but it doesn't eliminate the fact that people are still playing it on PS5. In other words it's just another multiplatform title.
ManaByte
Gold Member
The Show doesn't log into PSN on the other consoles though. So people playing The Show on Xbox or Switch aren't counted in PSN MAU.
NonPhixion
Member
King Dazzar
Member
ManaByte
Gold Member
You're ignoring the fact that it unlocks achievements on Xbox and logs playtime on Xbox.
Topher
Gold Member
Sony doesn't publish MLB on Switch or Xbox. MLB Advanced Media does.
Last edited:
Unknown?
Member
It doesn't need to be counted for them to be PlayStation players.
Klayzer
Member
How do you know what internal metrics they use, to count on other platforms? Seriously curious.
ReBurn
Gold Member
It makes sense that every version would use the same backend infrastructure for the game instead of running different services for each platform. That's not uncommon for third party publishers.
I don't know why anyone would even care that they're getting achievements on the Microsoft account they create to play the game or that their playtime for the game is being tracked across platforms.
I don't know why anyone would even care that they're getting achievements on the Microsoft account they create to play the game or that their playtime for the game is being tracked across platforms.
ManaByte
Gold Member
I was replying to someone who was claiming The Show users were PSN users. I know they aren't.
ManaByte
Gold Member
MLB Advanced Media publishes The Show on Xbox and Switch. It doesn't use a PSN account. Unless Sony has access to your Nintendo and Microsoft account then they don't know what you're playing.
Unknown?
Member
I didn't say they were PSN users. You don't need to be logged in to PSN to be a PS player.
kikii
Member
are u sure about that ? cuz that is very me-ow if it pops trophies and xbox achvies at the same time ^^
Sea of Thieves PS5 Trophy List is Absolutely Massive
Rare reveals the massive Trophy list for Sea of Thieves' PlayStation 5 port, which releases on April 30 and can be pre-ordered for $40.
gamerant.com
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Ok, so Xbox is a third party. Is Ubisoft also competing with Sony by having its own service?You're unlocking Xbox achievements and accumulating play time on Xbox.
You're using PS5 hardware to play an Xbox game on Xbox services.
I unlocked two Xbox achievements not on Xbox hardware yesterday and clocked 12 hours of playtime in an Xbox game not running on Xbox hardware.
So playing those Sony published games on PC are actually Playstation players. 4d chess, trojan horse moves right there, turning PC users into Playstation users. Am I doing it right ManaByte?
Last edited:
Lunarorbit
Member
The reason cod will always be cross plat is they spent a ton of money on the company and there aren't enough users on Xbox.
No this doesn't make ps users xbox users. They can twist the numbers in their metrics however they want but it doesn't mean anything.
No this doesn't make ps users xbox users. They can twist the numbers in their metrics however they want but it doesn't mean anything.
Klayzer
Member
No, that's different GIF.
ManaByte
Gold Member
are u sure about that ? cuz that is very me-ow if it pops trophies and xbox achvies at the same time ^^
Sea of Thieves PS5 Trophy List is Absolutely Massive
Rare reveals the massive Trophy list for Sea of Thieves' PlayStation 5 port, which releases on April 30 and can be pre-ordered for $40.
I explained in the OP. It pops at the same time on Xbox.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
And I gave up my MAU to Sony for a Miles Morales skin like a sucker.
I don't think either company care about massaging MAU figures, I do think that getting someone signed up for an account may have significance down the road.
MasterCornholio
Member
Well your still playing it on PS5. That's something your struggling to accept.
Let me make it simple for you.
PS5=/= Series X or S.
It definitely isn't the same as playing it on Xbox. If Microsoft wanted that they wouldn't have brought it over.
Last edited:
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Sega were the true winners of the PS2 generation because their audience consisted of players on DC, GC, Xbox and PS2 combined.
Am I doing it right?
Am I doing it right?
Snake29
RSI Employee of the Year
Manabyte on Duty again
I mean you get an extra paycheck in the weekends.
King Dazzar
Member
Does it matter though how Xbox are doing their cross platform metrics? Ubisoft have cross platform saves for Far Cry 6 for example. And everything syncs up between Xbox and PS5. This just reads as Xbox the publisher behaving like a 3rd party publisher. Xbox want to record player engagement metrics etc. Well, so does every other publisher.
Last edited:
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Why didn't MS convert Xbox users into loyal Xbox users in the first place?
What makes people believe Xbox will succeed in other people's homes when they failed in their own?
What makes people believe Xbox will succeed in other people's homes when they failed in their own?
demigod
Member
OP must’ve felt real giddy inside when he wrote this piece.The Sea of Thieves beta is ending early tomorrow morning on PS5, and I posted impressions on the improvements in the PS5 client here. I've put 12 hours into the beta so far and will probably play several more today, but something happened yesterday that was eye opening and revealed the real reason MS is porting these games to PlayStation, and it's not because "people don't buy games on Xbox and they'll buy them on PS5". In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if SoT (and possibly Grounded) show up on PS+ in the future as the true reason for their existence isn't sales of the game client.
When you download SoT on the PS5 it works exactly as it does on Steam. You are REQUIRED to link or create a Microsoft account. You cannot log into the game and play without one. While most people just shrugged and assumed it was for cross progression/cross play, the shocker is that when you're playing Sea of Thieves on a PS5, you're still playing it on Xbox.
Trophies are disabled in the beta (but they're still being tracked so they'll pop on release), and I unlocked two achievements while playing. While the PS5 trophies are disabled, my Xbox mobile app notification popped up showing the achievements were unlocked - while I was playing on the PS5. Those 12 hours I played in the PS5 beta were also added to my tracked playtime on Xbox for the game.
So even though you're using a PS5 to run the game and playing with a DualSense with its haptics, you're still logged into and playing the game on the Xbox services. Meaning MS is going to count every PS user in SoT as an Xbox user when reporting MAU.
Why are they doing this? Sony explained why in 2017:
Sony Talks Shift From Hardware to Monthly Active Users; Plans to Explore Microtransactions
Sony Executives talk about the shift of the business model from hardware units to monthly active users, and the possible exploration of microtransactions.
Every single person playing SoT (and again possibly Grounded) on PS5 can be counted as part of Xbox's MAU metric as they are technically logged in and playing on an Xbox service despite using a PS5 as the doorway to access it. That's why these GaaS games are being ported and why CoD will forever be cross platform. As CoD uses the Activision account (which is now MS) they'll be counting CoD players as "Xbox" users in the MAU metrics going forward.
