The real victims of the Xbone fiasco

[cookyy2k]

So Microsoft have done/are doing a horrible job of designing and marketing a next gen console. If this thing bombs or at least sells poorly as I would expect we should take some time to think of the true victims of this.

Not Microsoft, this is all their fault and can't really be considered victims. Not gamers, Microsoft has no obligation to give us the console we want and we have other options.

I am of course talking about devs of xbone exclusives: 343, Lionhead, rare etc. These are studios of talented people who work to make good games for us all to play. If the xbone sells poorly these studios will have very limited markets to sell to and as seen fail to sell a ludicrous number of AAA games in this day and age and you're considered a failure. If Halo 5 sells only three quarters of Halo 4 it will be considered a bomb. Judging by industry standards if this happens it will be blamed on the devs, including studio closures and redundancies.

On a personal note this whole thing saddens me immensely as I have pre-ordered and bought on release every Halo game (the most expensive "limited" version too) including anniversary and wars. Unfortunately since I wont be touching a xbone, I wont be seeing any more Halos.

 

[Able Seacat]

It is very sad. I find both Halo and Forza to be brilliant franchises. I also adored Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP so I was really excited when I saw the trailer for their next game; 'Below' with Jim Guthrie returning to do what will surely be another excellent soundtrack.

But lets add a naive drop of optimism into the mix and say it's a long time until November... Microsoft could turn it around..? *sigh*

 

[Ninmecu]

But lets add a naive drop of optimism into the mix and say it's a long time until November... Microsoft could turn it around..? *sigh*

I WISH I had your level of optimism. I can't imagine MS will backtrack at this point. They've dug their grave, it's time for them to sleep in it. Regardless of the cost to the future generations of gaming.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

You know, those exclusive deals are based on contracts. The contract doesn't just benefit Microsoft. Microsoft has to guarantee those developers that the game will turn a profit on their system. If the exclusives don't sell well enough the developers probably have the right to port it to other systems. I don't think anyone in their right mind would sign a contract that states otherwise. Think about it. If you were a developer, what would make you sign an exclusivity deal? Either a clause that says that you can port the game to other systems if it doesn't meet the desired sales, or money from Microsoft. Besides, most exclusive deals are timed anyway unless Microsoft owns the actual IP.

 

[cookyy2k]

You know, those exclusive deals are based on contracts. The contract doesn't just benefit Microsoft. Microsoft has to guarantee those developers that the game will turn a profit on their system. If the exclusives don't sell well enough the developers probably have the right to port it to other systems. I don't think anyone in their right mind would sign a contract that states otherwise. Think about it. If you were a developer, what would make you sign an exclusivity deal? Either a clause that says that you can port the game to other systems if it doesn't meet the desired sales, or money from Microsoft. Besides, most exclusive deals are timed anyway unless Microsoft owns the actual IP.

Well this is the thing, Microsoft is the publisher in the case of the 3 named developers, they own the IP and fund the game (as far as I know). The problem is if that game doesn't turn the sort of profit Microsoft wants to see will they think "oh we overstretched and there isn't a big enough market" or will they blame the studio? Bearing in mind this is the AAA market I think we both know the answer.

For example Halo 5's sales will be compared to Halo 4's, with the xbone being such an unattractive prospect and the 360 being fairly widespread there is no way on Earth it will live up to that target. I doubt the people who placed the target or marketed the xbone will bear the responsibility so it will fall on 343 to explain themselves and they can't just say "well it's your fault for the crappy console".

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

They'll just port it to PC then. Stating how they love the PC and they want to support it more in the future. It happened before and it will happen again.

 

[cookyy2k]

They'll just port it to PC then. Stating how they love the PC and they want to support it more in the future. It happened before and it will happen again.

I really hope so, don't want to be without Halo but I am not getting an xbone. Just got to hope they don't make it windows 8 only since that's another no go.

 

[Korten12]

They'll just port it to PC then. Stating how they love the PC and they want to support it more in the future. It happened before and it will happen again.

If Halo 5 came to the PC, I would cry out of joy.

 

[cojo965]

You know, those exclusive deals are based on contracts. The contract doesn't just benefit Microsoft. Microsoft has to guarantee those developers that the game will turn a profit on their system. If the exclusives don't sell well enough the developers probably have the right to port it to other systems. I don't think anyone in their right mind would sign a contract that states otherwise. Think about it. If you were a developer, what would make you sign an exclusivity deal? Either a clause that says that you can port the game to other systems if it doesn't meet the desired sales, or money from Microsoft. Besides, most exclusive deals are timed anyway unless Microsoft owns the actual IP.

Well this is the thing, Microsoft is the publisher in the case of the 3 named developers, they own the IP and fund the game (as far as I know). The problem is if that game doesn't turn the sort of profit Microsoft wants to see will they think "oh we overstretched and there isn't a big enough market" or will they blame the studio? Bearing in mind this is the AAA market I think we both know the answer.

For example Halo 5's sales will be compared to Halo 4's, with the xbone being such an unattractive prospect and the 360 being fairly widespread there is no way on Earth it will live up to that target. I doubt the people who placed the target or marketed the xbone will bear the responsibility so it will fall on 343 to explain themselves and they can't just say "well it's your fault for the crappy console".

I wonder how Microsoft would respond if 343 did say that.

 

[cookyy2k]

snip.

snip
"well it's your fault for the crappy console".

I wonder how Microsoft would respond if 343 did say that.

I would imagine a rather swift management change at 343 would ensue.

 

[Sixcess]

Possibly, but if the Xbox One flops so badly even Halo 5 underperforms I can imagine that the marketing dept, and everyone else involved in this fiasco, will be too busy trying to save their own jobs to pick out other scapegoats. At the moment they're betting on all this blowing over, and if it doesn't - if the actual sales figures are anywhere near as bad as some are predicting - then Microsoft will have to face reality and purge the people responsible.

Unless the company truly is as hell bent on knocking itself out of the console market as they look right now - in which case 343 and the other studios would be better off being kicked off the sinking ship before it goes under altogether.

 

[cojo965]

snip.

snip
"well it's your fault for the crappy console".

I wonder how Microsoft would respond if 343 did say that.

I would imagine a rather swift management change at 343 would ensue.

In what way?

 

[cookyy2k]

snip.

snip
"well it's your fault for the crappy console".

I wonder how Microsoft would respond if 343 did say that.

I would imagine a rather swift management change at 343 would ensue.

In what way?

In the way that 343 is owned by Microsoft so the management would be swiftly gotten rid of if 343 made a public "xbone sucks" announcement.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

All I can say is tough titties to those developers that chose to align themselves with Microsoft. If the companies go under then the devs will just have to find work somewhere else.

When I read your title, my first thought was kids who buy an Xbone without knowing the pile of shit they've stepped in are the real victims, in my opinion

 

[irok]

They'll just port it to PC then. Stating how they love the PC and they want to support it more in the future. It happened before and it will happen again.

If Halo 5 came to the PC, I would cry out of joy.

No, they probably wont, they haven't trusted us not to steal things since halo 2 came out on pc

 

[faefrost]

You know, those exclusive deals are based on contracts. The contract doesn't just benefit Microsoft. Microsoft has to guarantee those developers that the game will turn a profit on their system. If the exclusives don't sell well enough the developers probably have the right to port it to other systems. I don't think anyone in their right mind would sign a contract that states otherwise. Think about it. If you were a developer, what would make you sign an exclusivity deal? Either a clause that says that you can port the game to other systems if it doesn't meet the desired sales, or money from Microsoft. Besides, most exclusive deals are timed anyway unless Microsoft owns the actual IP.

Well this is the thing, Microsoft is the publisher in the case of the 3 named developers, they own the IP and fund the game (as far as I know). The problem is if that game doesn't turn the sort of profit Microsoft wants to see will they think "oh we overstretched and there isn't a big enough market" or will they blame the studio? Bearing in mind this is the AAA market I think we both know the answer.

For example Halo 5's sales will be compared to Halo 4's, with the xbone being such an unattractive prospect and the 360 being fairly widespread there is no way on Earth it will live up to that target. I doubt the people who placed the target or marketed the xbone will bear the responsibility so it will fall on 343 to explain themselves and they can't just say "well it's your fault for the crappy console".

If MS owns the IP and funds the game, then the developer is essentially work for hire and everyone involved has been paid a decent salary for their efforts. As the source of funding MS has absorbed the risk. The only thing that the devs might lose is a "potential" but not guaranteed bonus if certain sales figures are hit. and one would hope that any developer signing an exclusive deal for a new untried console sets the thresholds for said bonuses really really low.

 

[In Search of Username]

Then they should make their games multi-platform. Simple as that. If you've made a game you're proud of, restricting it to a narrower audience for the purposes of exclusivity bullshit should be the LAST thing you want to do.

Captcha: total shamble
Yep, captcha. Just the one though

 

[cojo965]

snip.

snip
"well it's your fault for the crappy console".

I wonder how Microsoft would respond if 343 did say that.

I would imagine a rather swift management change at 343 would ensue.

In what way?

In the way that 343 is owned by Microsoft so the management would be swiftly gotten rid of if 343 made a public "xbone sucks" announcement.

So who would (or rather could) they possibly point their finger at when Halo 5 fails to meet expectations specifically because no one got an Xbone? Because I guarantee that the only people that would actually invest in one of the FUCKING things are the most mindless of Microsoft fanboys. On that note let me quote a certain wolf:

You are the result of 4 billion years of evolutionary success.

FUCKING ACT LIKE IT!

I mean Jesus Christ, we collectively stopped following the herd literally and metaphorically thousands of years ago and even then those proto farmers knew when the land the chose to settle in wasn't providing and moved to greener pastures. To keep with that metaphor, the fanboys who have made their minds up about getting an Xbone are pretty much packing up from the fertile land of Xbox 360 and settling in a fucking desert, something they are severely under equipped for. Meanwhile the less devoted are preparing to move to the pristine farmland of PS4. Like it or not fanboys, eventually you'll have to admit the desert is not working, preferably around the time the desert overlords have deemed you unworthy to get any work done for the 4th day straight because you couldn't provide your farming license made of a name written in sand once a day.

 

[Alexandre Lemke]

Sorry, but I don't feel pity for AAA developers.

It is a business like any other. They made the wrong choices working with MS and supporting X1 exclusivity.


I'm still not going to buy this damn console.

 

[Strelok]

I really hope so, don't want to be without Halo but I am not getting an xbone. Just got to hope they don't make it windows 8 only since that's another no go.

That top down Halo mess is releasing Windows 8 only so do not doubt if the XBone fails (It won't, it will sell ok probably pretty well, to Microsoft's true target audience now), but let's pretend anyway, if it did Microsoft games would use the opportunity to entice those that do not know any better to their underselling OS which currently is Windows 8. Remind you of anything? Halo 2/Vista combo maybe?

On Topic: Are these really victims? The only real victim out of that list that even made a decent game is Remedy, hope they survive this fiasco. Of course if they circle the drain it is their own fault for throwing their hat in with the losers.