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[Montresor]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

 

[sam12]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

Don't do this to yourself. That man has been saying things like that for the past couple of years. Expect a new Halo, Forza at next E3 and maybe one other exclusive that is outsourced to 3rd party, Gobo exclusive? Not much else really. I have given up on revivals of Rare franchises.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

Games coming in the next year to 18 months was a pretty common theme from all the major players at E3. Phil has been the one to specifically talk about it, and much of it is in the light that they unfortunate cancellation of large projects recently, but I don't think it's a stretch that others in the industry feel the same way and that it's very possible we see a larger trend moving away from revealing games years in advance.

Criticism of this holiday's lineup or maybe the next 12 months is totally fair, but when Phil directly comes out and says we want to focus on stuff in the next 12 months, we'll announce stuff beyond that latter...and then some people are salty that they don't announce games in the time period they said they wouldn't...what did you expect? Just setting yourself up to be disappointed. (not directed at any individual)

 

[memoso]

Changed to console launch exclusive.

Yep, ashen is console exclusive, coming to Xbox one and PC(steam)

https://youtu.be/Dl0kyka9k6g ( second 45)

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Ashen is lifetime exclusive not console, unless something changed recently

Changed to console launch exclusive.

Yep, ashen is console exclusive, coming to Xbox one and PC(steam)

https://youtu.be/Dl0kyka9k6g ( second 45)

I reckon the deal changed when Annapurna picked it up for publishing - maybe it was a troubled development, MS wanted to pull out and Annapurna agreed to finish funding the game on the proviso that it would be allowed to come to other platforms. Ashen was announced as "Console Launch Exclusive" during the conference, as opposed to Cuphead or State of Decay 2 which were announced as "Xbox One & Windows 10 Exclusive".

 

[JlNX]

Just going to cross post this from the other thread as it's more relevant to this thread:

This reminds me of something a friend of mine saw on Linkedin a few months ago, status update from a recruiter in games :

I don't think it was picked upon by any website or forum (and rightfully so, because it doesn't really mean anything, it hinges a lot about what a recruiter thinks a "horizon zero dawn type" project is (ie nice art ? tribes people ? robots ? or simply open world rpg ?), but since we saw nothing like that at e3 it probably refers to one of those "exclusives 2-3 years away".

 

[Delryk]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

I think he's just starting... Now that the hardware is out of the way, he knows he'll need to show games.. and it'll need to be THEIR games... E3 next year should be even better, 90 mins of games..

Seriously, like i said in another thread, if it's a new IP, i wouldn't want to show anything before the game is close to a year being finished. If you're going to announce a sequel from a huge game (TLOU2 for example), then you can show just a CGI splash screen even if it's 2-3 years away --- you know the game will eventually come out...

 

[JlNX]

I think he's just starting... Now that the hardware is out of the way, he knows he'll need to show games.. and it'll need to be THEIR games... E3 next year should be even better, 90 mins of games..

Seriously, like i said in another thread, if it's a new IP, i wouldn't want to show anything before the game is close to a year being finished. If you're going to announce a sequel from a huge game (TLOU2 for example), then you can show just a CGI splash screen even if it's 2-3 years away --- you know the game will eventually come out...

I'm more interested to see the graphics tech they invest in to push X, seeing Forza 7, Metro and Anthems graphics was amazing. If they can replicate that further on the first party side if they really want to push X, can't wait to see what 343 shows of next year with Halo 6 because they have shown they can push graphics with Halo 4 and performance with Halo 5. Now they have all that time to improve the engine while having known about scorpio for a couple of years preparing.

 

[gamz]

Oh shit!!!


https://m.windowscentral.com/sea-thieves-e3-2017

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

I reckon the deal changed when Annapurna picked it up for publishing - maybe it was a troubled development, MS wanted to pull out and Annapurna agreed to finish funding the game on the proviso that it would be allowed to come to other platforms. Ashen was announced as "Console Launch Exclusive" during the conference, as opposed to Cuphead or State of Decay 2 which were announced as "Xbox One & Windows 10 Exclusive".

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

 

[Poodlestrike]

Oh shit!!!


https://m.windowscentral.com/sea-thieves-e3-2017

Not free to play confirmation is nice to hear (again). I love the idea of building an in world reputation and community awareness through stuff like wanted posters. Could be dope.

 

[Yearsoflurking]

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

wait ashen still exclusive ? didn't know that

 

[SEGAvangelist]

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

Oh wow. That's a good exclusive to have locked down for sure. The game looks fantastic.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

I don't necessarily agree, but no matter. I've tweeted the dev to see if they can comment on it or not.

 

[Nightengale]

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

Interesting. I'll keep this "in view" for now. The reason I say that is well... historically MS has been extremely good at their PR-details on game's true exclusivity status over what the devs say, because the devs sometimes make mistakes. ( like dev of Firewatch writing on the PS Blog that his game is a console exclusive to PS4, only to realise later it's only timed)

Thanks for this though. I would've just relied on the CLE line.

I don't necessarily agree, but no matter. I've tweeted the dev to see if they can comment on it or not.

Thanks for the initiative.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Just going to cross post this from the other thread as it's more relevant to this thread:

Yeah I am very excited about that, but at the same time I should curb my enthusiasm because man, how far away could this title possibly be? But Horizon is a fantastic game both gameplay and graphically. I hope MS puts a team on this that understands the Xbox hardware. I don't care if it's still two or three years off but blow us away when you eventually reveal it. Xbox needs that kind of game. Ryse did that in 2013 and after that never again really.

I don't necessarily agree, but no matter. I've tweeted the dev to see if they can comment on it or not.

I can understand why you're skeptical, it's happened before that one thing is said by someone and something totally different by someone else. Although if it was the developer himself at Geoff's show it would be weird if he doesn't have his info correct.

If it's a full exclusive it's a pretty promising one. Few years ago it already was on my radar but after the latest showing I want this game.

I do think these companies should find a better and less confusing way of announcing when it's a full on exclusive and when it's timed.

 

[Nightengale]

I can understand why you're skeptical, it's happened before that one thing is said by someone and something totally different by someone else. Although if it was the developer himself at Geoff's show it would be weird if he doesn't have his info correct.

Ashen was for two years at least; a lifetime console exclusive before being picked up by Annapurna. And I suspect that even if it will come to PS4 eventually, it's not a short exclusivity window given that MS has invested money into the game prior to Annapurna's pickup.

If this game was an entirely indie-game the dev would definitely be correct, but it's a publisher game now, so things are a little murkier there.

I do think these companies should find a better and less confusing way of announcing when it's a full on exclusive and when it's timed.

The thing is annoying when not everyone is as deep into the exclusivity language PR as each other. I've seen multiple scenarios where devs/execs on twitter just say stuff like "console exclusive", when it's actually "timed exclusive", and later state "actually no plans yet", etc. Unlike the platform holders, sometimes devs just aren't in tune with the multi-layered messaging of game's exclusivity status.

I am disappointed by Xbox's choice of exclusivity language this year, because they actually had the best exclusivity messaging two years ago with [First on Xbox], which very clearly indicates timed-exclusivity.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Ashen was for two years at least; a lifetime console exclusive before being picked up by Annapurna. And I suspect that even if it will come to PS4 eventually, it's not a short exclusivity window given that MS has invested money into the game prior to Annapurna's pickup.

If this game was an entirely indie-game the dev would definitely be correct, but it's a publisher game now, so things are a little murkier there.



I am disappointed by Xbox's choice of exclusivity language this year, because they actually had the best exclusivity messaging two years ago with First on Xbox, which very clearly indicates timed-exclusivity.

Exactly man.

The messaging was bad and confusing this year. Not only did it say launch exclusive but they also had a voice saying exclusive. Yeah you definitely confuse folks that way.

I don't even remember how they announced a real exclusive like Forza, Crackdown and Sea of Thieves last Sunday.


Was watching this video from arsTechnica and these guys actually believed those 22 exclusives were indeed console exclusives. See, it confuses plenty people.

https://youtu.be/flqTE2557-o

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

I don't necessarily agree, but no matter. I've tweeted the dev to see if they can comment on it or not.

Seems pretty cut and dry in that clip there.

Their marketing is crap this E3 though so who really knows what is what lol

 

[Rumblebones]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

Don't do this to yourself.

 

[EmiPrime]

Hmmm - Phil Spencer's latest news that he's signed 2-3 exclusives that aren't ready to be shown until 2018/2019 makes me feel a lot better about the 1st-party situation.

I think they really are just never going to show us any game again, unless it's close to completion. For better or for worse, Phil Spencer's decided that's the path forward for Microsoft.

I think what needs to be solved now is the Japanese games problem.

It also allows them to string along those who take everything on faith alone.

I remember arguing that Scorpio would price match the Pro, that they wouldn't repeat Sony's mistakes with supply and marketing and that it would have a killer launch or launch window line up with Scalebound, Crackdown 3, Forza 7, SOD2 and SOT, that E3 would be all new first party games for 2018 to keep the momentum going. After all, they had over a year to prepare! As nice as it looks I expected more than just Super Lucky's Tale as a new exclusive. I feel like a big eejit for believing in Xbox.

Sneakers and Matt were depressingly right.

 

[gamz]

Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing was the most watched conference on Twitch

 

[Dynomutt]

Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing was the most watched conference on Twitch

What a difference a day makes!

 

[Finaj]

Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing was the most watched conference on Twitch

I'm surprised, especially given a lot of people also watched on Mixer.

 

[gamz]

I'm surprised, especially given a lot of people also watched on Mixer.

So was I. Mixer got 1M views of the Xbox conference.

Then I guess it was expected with new hardware. Not really surprised at all.

 

[SOR5]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.ga...the-uncertain-future-for-single-player-games/

He seems to be saying that Game Pass will be a conduit to assess the interest in old IP's that have fallen to obscurity

 

[EmiPrime]

The Sony conference was at 2/3am in UK/Europe so I didn't bother to watch it. MS had the good sense to have their conference at a much more civilised time.

 

[gamz]

Sunday was brilliant move.

 

[Heretic]

Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing was the most watched conference on Twitch

nice! I watched on Mixer. should have had twitch open too

 

[SOR5]

Does anyone think AoEE is hints at more to come?

 

[jbug617]

Does anyone think AoEE is hints at more to come?

Adam said that after the reveal. Hinted more to say at Gamescom about AoE

 

[SOR5]

He said that. Hinted more to say at Gamescom about AoE

Aaah, I hope Gamescom is the one for the more alternative far-off games

I remember Gamescom 2015 serving a similar purpose

 

[Salty Hippo]

Is Ashen a MS owned IP? Would be great for them if it was.

 

[Nightengale]

Is Ashen a MS owned IP? Would be great for them if it was.

No, it is not. Self-owned indie IP, which MS bought lifetime console exclusivity back in 2015.

In the past 2 years, Annapurna has picked up that game as a publisher.

The one I'm curious about is Super Lucky's Tale. MS said it's a first-party game, but do they own the IP for that, given that the original was an Oculus game? Weird.

 

[SOR5]

Watched an interview with Aaron Greenberg, when asked about Gamescom surprises he emphasised that Germany is a very big market for the PC

If that's not an AOE announcement brewing up then I don't know what to say

 

[gamz]

No, it is not. Self-owned indie IP, which MS bought lifetime console exclusivity back in 2015.

In the past 2 years, Annapurna has picked up that game as a publisher.

The one I'm curious about is Super Lucky's Tale. MS said it's a first-party game, but do they own the IP for that, given that the original was an Oculus game? Weird.

Is Ashen exclusive? I hear a new thing daily. Today or yesterday I heard it was?

Jez can't stop talking about it. It's his favorite game @ E3:

Ashen crushes everything I saw imo

 

[blakep267]

No, it is not. Self-owned indie IP, which MS bought lifetime console exclusivity back in 2015.

In the past 2 years, Annapurna has picked up that game as a publisher.

The one I'm curious about is Super Lucky's Tale. MS said it's a first-party game, but do they own the IP for that, given that the original was an Oculus game? Weird.

From the interviews that I've seen, after the VR game shipped last April they started work on this right away. It's apparently a full on sequel with all new stuff. From their tone, I don't think a VR sequel was even an option

I'd think it's more of a sunset overdrive situation. Where MS does not own the IP but they financed and are publishing the game

 

[Nightengale]

Is Ashen exclusive? I hear a new thing daily. Today or yesterday I heard it was?

Mixed messaging on that. CLE line implies no, but dev have said its exclusive. We've seen times before where both the dotted line and devs has been right/wrong on different occasions, so who the hell knows right now.

I've tweeted Annapurna on it. They're the publishers, so they would know the dotted line the best. Let's see if they respond.

I'd think it's more of a sunset overdrive situation. Where MS does not own the IP but they financed and are publishing the game

Would be interesting if that's the case. I initially had it up on my chart as a 3rd-party lifetime exclusive because MS had said in the past they want to focus on investing in MS-ownership IPs, but it came out later that SLT is indeed first-party, so I'm not sure if the devs sold the IP to MS or MS have changed their stance on it.

Would be great if it's the latter.

 

[Hatefilled Vengeance]

Watched an interview with Aaron Greenberg, when asked about Gamescom surprises he emphasised that Germany is a very big market for the PC

If that's not an AOE announcement brewing up then I don't know what to say

Do we know if they're having a press conference at Gamescom, or just maybe a random announcement or two?

Would love it if they did a new AoE.

Also, not sure if it's been mentioned, but 343 confirmed no Halo 6 at Gamescom or PAX.

 

[Xumbrega]

Just going to cross post this from the other thread as it's more relevant to this thread:

hopefully this means am open world rpg

xbox was a rpg powerhouse with xbox and early xbox 360, they need that back.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Like a posted in the other thread, if Crackdown's destruction tech ends up being what they're advertising, they should use it in a co-op Blast Corps revival where you get to destroy a bunch of shit with friends. Could make for a good GaaS release that doesn't need to be a big AAA production.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Some people seem to think that Halo 6 is not a 2018 title,because of what 343 recently said about not revealing 6 anytime soon.

I highly doubt it, but if they do I really wonder what the game is going to be that takes its place. I mean for Spring next year we have State of Decay 2, Ori 2 sometime next year and right now they have Sea of Thieves planned for early next year. You'd expect Halo 6 around holiday or so.

As for new IP, why don't MS just make a deal with a third party like Sony did for Bloodborne and MS with Sunset Overdrive? That way they can take the time creating new studios or their own current existing studios making new games and not worrying while that third party developer makes the game. Everybody happy!

 

[Christocolus]

Can't wait to play Ashen. That game looks amazing.

 

[Christocolus]

The dev literally said console exclusive to Xbox after Geoff said "it's coming to all consoles right". So regardless of whichever tag it had during the event it's Xbox exclusive

Hmmm interesting.

 

[The God]

Some people seem to think that Halo 6 is not a 2018 title,because of what 343 recently said about not revealing 6 anytime soon.

I highly doubt it, but if they do I really wonder what the game is going to be that takes its place. I mean for Spring next year we have State of Decay 2, Ori 2 sometime next year and right now they have Sea of Thieves planned for early next year. You'd expect Halo 6 around holiday or so.

As for new IP, why don't MS just make a deal with a third party like Sony did for Bloodborne and MS with Sunset Overdrive? That way they can take the time creating new studios or their own current existing studios making new games and not worrying while that third party developer makes the game. Everybody happy!

Who would they pick up? Seems like most AAA studios are busy

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

As for new IP, why don't MS just make a deal with a third party like Sony did for Bloodborne and MS with Sunset Overdrive? That way they can take the time creating new studios or their own current existing studios making new games and not worrying while that third party developer makes the game. Everybody happy!

That's how Microsoft already functions. The only thing made by their internal teams in mainline Forza, mainline Halo, and Gears. Everything else is done through a third party.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

That's how Microsoft already functions. The only thing made by their internal teams in mainline Forza, mainline Halo, and Gears. Everything else is done through a third party.

That's true. MS really doesn't seem to be interested in creating new studios at all. I bet Spencer would love to do that but he probably doesn't get the money from MS for it. It's a real big shame because look at what that has brought Sony over the years. Always some great exclusives and plenty diversity.

 

[Nightengale]

As for new IP, why don't MS just make a deal with a third party like Sony did for Bloodborne and MS with Sunset Overdrive? That way they can take the time creating new studios or their own current existing studios making new games and not worrying while that third party developer makes the game. Everybody happy!

I used to be "external/internal makes zero difference because at the end of the day, gaems" mindset, but this gen has changed my perspective on this a bit. Not a whole lot, but now I feel differently about the matter compared to early-gen.

I don't have a list comparing it, but if we look at say, MS's majorexternal partners at around 2012-13 window, we're talking...

- Insomniac ( >200 employees )
- Remedy ( >150 employees )
- People Can Fly ( >80 employees )
- Playground ( >100 employees )
- Crytek ( >150 employees - Ryse team only )
- Frontier Development ( >300 employees )
- Undead Labs ( >70 employees )

Not all equal, but a lot of partnerships are definitely with devs that are well staffed and capable on delivering AAA quality games, given sufficient time and resources.

If we look at the picture of MS's 2014-2017 slate of partners, we're looking at...

- Platinum ( >200 employees )
- Creative Assembly ( >200 employees - HW team )
- Sumo Digital + Reagant + Cloudgine ( >150 employees - CD team )
- Darkside Games ( >50 employees)
- Armature ( >50 employees )
- Moon Studios ( >10 employees )
- Studio Gobo ( >60 employees )
- Playful Corp ( >60 employees )

Of course, if you just look at it at a glance, there's no major shift. But the big new AAA investments that were demonstrated at E3 2014... only extended to 2 studios. Ever since then, MS has chosen to invest more in...

- mid-sized 50+ studios to develop AA/AAA games instead of large 100+ sized teams.
- no new AAA-scale partners have emerged since Creative Assembly/Halo Wars 2.

 

[bede-x]

Before E3 there wasn't even one AAA single player only exclusive on the way to Xbox and after E3 there still isn't one. I'm sure they have far more intelligent people than me and that their numbers add up, making service games a better investment from their perspective, but I still can't help but wonder.. Maybe the individual game will make more money, but how much does it cost them in terms of mindshare not having just one or two upcoming AAA games targeted at the single player audience? Again and again from different sources I see people calling their first party line-up a barren wasteland or claiming there's nothing coming for the Xbox, when the reality is they've got a lot on the way, it just isn't aimed at solo gamers (unless it's it's lower budget).

Obviously it's not something that can be proven, but I think they're miscalculating and the lack of single player AAA games is costing them in mindshare and that's damaging the view of their entire line-up.

 

[zeexlash]

I don't have a list comparing it, but if we look at say, MS's majorexternal partners at around 2012-13 window, we're talking...

Harmonix is another one. Have to wonder how and why these relationships broke down under Phil Spencer's watch..