• smoothbrain coldtakes@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      11 months ago

      I always heard that consoles were sold at a loss and made up for with services. Sounds like the logical continuation of this saga is for MS to give up the hardware game so long as Gamepass generates more income due to being on virtually every platform.

      • woelkchen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        11 months ago

        Sounds like the logical continuation of this saga is for MS to give up the hardware game

        That’s what Microsoft want to make people believe: “Poor Microsoft only selling proprietary platforms because those evil competitors would not let them onto their platform. Sony basically forced Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard, commit only future Call of Duty to come to PlayStation at all, and reserving future installments of all other franchises to come out exclusively on Xbox and Windows. Microsoft really wants to release Diablo 5, Overwatch 3, etc. on PlayStation but because GamePass isn’t available, their hands are tied.”

        Just look at Steam and Steam Deck: Steam allows subscription services. EA Play is available through Steam. On Steam Deck there is even the entirely vendor-neutral Flathub platform available through the pre-installed Discover store. Microsoft could release GamePass through there and even bundle a Proton-like compatibility layer based on actual Windows code. Microsoft doesn’t do that because GamePass is meant to tie people into Microsoft platforms.

      • verysoft@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        They won’t even need to sell an expensive console, they want to sell a “streaming stick” and stream games to it.

        • woelkchen@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          they want to sell a “streaming stick” and stream games to it.

          If that were true, Microsoft would sell such a thing already. GamePass Streaming is just meant as a sneak peek of the games experience. The real deal with better input latency will be Xbox and Windows for the foreseeable future.

          • verysoft@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            I just looked and they actually scrapped it, they were working on one. Perhaps they wanted to just target existing devices in the end, although that hasn’t seemed to have gone anywhere either, with game pass only being available on some samsung tvs.

            • woelkchen@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              they actually scrapped it

              Nothing was ever confirmed. It was all conjecture based of some thing in a background of a video.

          • smoothbrain coldtakes@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            It’s what Google wanted to do with Stadia.

            Fire Sticks can already Bluetooth connect to controllers and I have Moonlight installed on mine so I can stream games from my desktop to my TV downstairs. It’s not even that intensive on hardware.

    • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      I don’t think the hardware is the issue. Having their service on PlayStation isn’t going to sell anyone an XBox.

      I think third party games is the issue for Sony. They let EA do their own games in a subscription. They don’t have the more expensive full version that includes third party games (though it could be their cut being EA not wanting to sell it instead).

      For Nintendo, regardless of ideology (where they probably object just to object), I think if they started work right now, we’d see their store being capable of gamepass in a decade or so.

      • woelkchen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        Having their service on PlayStation isn’t going to sell anyone an XBox.

        Sure it would. If PlayStation got only fewer games and/or less optimized versions of those games, it would be nothing but promoting a closed competing platform that would never allow PlayStation Plus onto its platform.

        Sony is basically doing something similar with their Windows ports of PlayStation games. The ports of God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn were released under a year before the originally planned release dates of the sequels.

        • smoothbrain coldtakes@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          11 months ago

          Yeah but the Sony games are not gimped in any way when they launch on Steam.

          I would probably bet MS would give up the major hardware game and shift to streaming sticks, basically.

          • woelkchen@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            11 months ago

            Yeah but the Sony games are not gimped in any way when they launch on Steam.

            No, they are pretty great, actually. The PC port of Zero Dawn was in all likelihood in development before Covid and then the pandemic came and Sony realized that not only are the ports a great way to promote the franchise, they also are a relatively cheap way to earn some coin in a Covid-stricken world. I think it’s absolutely worthwhile to Sony to make those games but we cannot expect simultaneous releases with PlayStation either. They are PlayStation promotion first.

            Side note: Despite some noticeable delay, Sony releases more and more current games on Windows than Microsoft does on PlayStation and Switch which only get remasters of 1990s games.

            • smoothbrain coldtakes@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              I have Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War and I fucking love God of War. It’s so goddamn good and I love Christopher Judge as Kraatos.

              • woelkchen@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                11 months ago

                Same here. We can enjoy those games and still add two and two together for why Sony released the ports.